me  PROGRAM  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 


JOHN  V/.SHACKFORD 


BV  625  .S5 

1917 

A 

Shackford, 

John 

Walter, 

1876 

The  program  of  ' 

the 

Christiar 

THE  PKOGEAM  OF  THE  CHEISTIAJST 
EBLIGION 

(1) 


TRAINING  COURSES  FOR  LEADERSHIP 


Learning  and  Teaching.  Harold  J.  Sheridan  and 
G.  C.  White.     In  preparation. 

The  Training  of  the  Devotional  Life.  Minnie  E. 
Kennedy  and  Minna  M.  Meyer. 

The  Program  of  the  Christian  Religion.  John  W. 
Shackford. 

The  Organization  and  Administration  of  the  Sun- 
day School.  E.  M.  North  and  J.  L.  Cuninggim. 
In  preparation. 

Recreational  Leadership  of  Boys.  Norman  E. 
Richardson.      In  preparation. 

Life  in  the  Making.  Wade  Crawford  Barclay, 
Arlo  A.  Brown,  Alma  S.  Sheridan,  William  J. 
Thompson,  and  Harold  J.  Sheridan. 


-7 


Z 


TRAINING  COURSES   FOR  LEADERSHIP 
Edited  by  HENRY  H.  MEYER  and  E.  B.  CHAPPELL 


The  Program  of  the 
Christian  Religion 


BY 


JOHN  W.  SHACKFORI) 


<;^^i  OF  "timS^ 


-18 


Approved  by  the  Committee  on  Curriculumi  of  the  Board  of 

Sunday  Schools  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the 

Committee  on  Curriculum  of  the  General  Sunday  School 

Board  of  the  Methodist  Episcbpal  Church,  South 


THE  METHODIST  BOOK  CONCERN 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 

SMITH  &  LAMAR 

NASHVILLE  DALLAS  RICHMOND 


Copyright,  1917 

BY 

SMITH  &  LAMAR 


DEDICATION 

To  the  memory  of  my  father,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Wesley  Shackford,  who,  being  called  to  be  both 
father  and  mother  to  his  children,  did,  by  his  char- 
acter and  his  loving  care,  make  it  easy  for  them 
to  believe  in  the  uncompromising  holiness  and  the 
self -forgetting  love  of  the  "one  God  and  Father  of 
all,  ,  .  .  from  whom  every  fatherhood  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  is  named." 


FOREWORD 

The  Church  never  faced  greater  opportunities  for 
service  than  those  by  which  she  is  confronted  to-day. 
The  world  struggle  which  has  been  going  on  for 
more  than  three  years  has  shaken  men  loose  from 
the  conventional  bonds  by  which  in  normal  times 
they  are  held  in  restraint  and  launched  them  on  a 
sea  of  adventurous  radicalism  such  as  has  almost  no 
parallel  in  human  history.  Everything  now  is  in  a 
state  of  flux.  Nothing  is  regarded  as  fixed  beyond 
question.  Out  of  this  chaos  a  new  world  will  have 
to  be  made  after  the  grim  conflict  is  over.  What 
kind  of  a  world  it  is  to  be  will  depend  largely  upon 
the  Christian  forces  of  the  various  countries  in- 
volved in  it. 

If  these  forces  fail  to  show  themselves  equal  to 
the  occasion,  there  may  follow  a  long  period  of  con- 
fusion and  uncertainty.  If  they  prove  themselves 
equal  to  the  test  which  the  opportunity  will  bring  to 
them,  they  may  succeed  in  reorganizing  society  upon 
a  more  broadly  democratic  and  Christian  basis  and 
so  inaugurate  an  era  of  brotherhood  and  cooperation 
in  which  the  world  will  find  rich  compensation  for 
all  the  agony  of  the  grim  and  horrible  struggle. 

Whether  or  not  this  is  to  be  the  outcome  will  de- 
pend in  large  measure  upon  the  kind  of  leadership 
the  Church  shall  raise  up.  There  is  urgent  need  for 
men  and  women  who  "have  understanding  of  the 
times  to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do"  and  who 
have  been  definitely  prepared  by  wise  training  for 

7 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  tasks  to  which  they  are  called.  "To  this  end  ev- 
ery church  in  every  community  should  be  a  training 
post  as  well  as  a  recruiting  station."  Courses  and 
textbooks  have  been  prepared  especially  with  a  view 
to  fitting  young  Christians  for  the  large  demands 
which  the  present  situation  is  making  upon  them, 
and  others  are  in  preparation. 

This  volume  belongs  to  a  series  bearing  the  gener- 
al title,  "Training  Courses  for  Leadership."  Its  mis- 
sion is  to  point  out  the  way  of  approach  to  some  of 
the  problems  suggested  above.  Because  of  the  urgen- 
cy of  the  call  for  intelligent  social  interest  and  united 
social  action,  its  appearance  must  be  regarded  as 
most  timely.  The  author,  as  a  successful  pastor, 
spent  many  years  in  not  only  studying,  but  also  en- 
deavoring to  work  out  in  practice,  the  matters  which 
he  here  discusses.  He,  therefore,  speaks  vitally  be- 
cause he  speaks  out  of  his  own  experience.  His  mes- 
sage should  be  heartily  welcomed  by  those  who  are 
seeking  to  fit  themselves  for  leadership  in  Christian 
service.  The  Editors. 

8 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction  11 

CHAPTER  I 
Meeting  the  World's  Religious  Needs 19 

CHAPTER  II 
Providing  the  Basis  of  a  New  Social  Order S3 

CHAPTER  III 
Unto  All  the  Nations 45 

CHAPTER  IV 

Missionary  Beginnings 59 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Growth  of  the  Christian   Community  and  Its 
Impact  on  Its  Non-Christian  Environment 73 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Christian  Community  and  the  Social  Task 89 

CHAPTER  VII 

The   Creation   and    Preservation    of   the    Christian 
Family  107 

CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Christianization  of  Wealth  and  of  Industry.  . . .  125 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  Christianization  of  the  State 141 

9 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

CHAPTER  X 

Page 

Teaininq  the  Coming  Generation 159 

CHAPTER  XI 
The  Place  and  Work  of  the  Organized  Church 175 

CHAPTER  XII 

The  Assurance  of  Victory — The  Ultimate  Supremacy 

OF  THE  Kingdom  of  God 189 

10 


INTRODUCTION 

The  seed  cast  upon  the  earth  has  in  it  the  proph- 
ecy and  purpose  of  the  "full  grain  in  the  ear"  no 
less  than  of  the  first  "blade."  Jesus,  it  is  some- 
times said,  had  no  program.  It  is  true  that  he  left 
no  systematized  body  of  teaching;  he  provided  no 
complex  Church  organization;  he  handed  down  no 
detailed  instruction  regarding  the  application  to  be 
made  of  his  teaching  to  all  the  problems  that  should 
arise  in  the  after  ages.  He  spoke  simply  and  di- 
rectly to  the  hearts  of  men  and  left  his  words  in 
the  keeping  of  his  disciples,  with  the  injunction  that 
they  should  teach  them  to  all  nations.  There  are 
no  rules  by  which  the  kingdom  is  to  be  built,  but 
there  is  a  law  according  to  which  it  must  grow. 
The  seed  is  cast  upon  the  earth,  and  out  of  the 
forces  of  the  seed  and  of  the  soil  the  kingdom  of  God 
springs  into  being  and  grows;  and  it  grows  by  an 
orderly  and  consecutive  process  determined  by  the 
principles  of  life  within  and  by  the  conditions  of  the 
world  without,  making  unerringly  toward  the  final 
and  complete  stage  of  the  "full  grain  in  the  ear." 

A  program,  then,  in  this  sense  Jesus  most  certain- 
ly had;  but  it  was  without  artificialities  and  with- 
out detail,  because  he  thought  in  terms  of  personal 
relationships  and  of  life  and  not  in  terms  of  rules 
of  conduct  and  of  methods  of  procedure.  We  are, 
therefore,  to  look  for  the  program  of  Jesus  in  the 
fundamental  principles  of  his  teaching  and  in  his 
utterances  of  purpose  and  of  outcome.     We  look 

11 


PROGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

upon  the  kingdom  in  its  beginnings,  and  there  we 
see  its  nature,  and  we  are  permitted  to  have  a 
glimpse  of  its  future.  That  beginning  is,  indeed,  as 
the  "mustard  seed" ;  but  the  growing  kingdom  is  to 
spread  abroad  its  branches  until  it  becomes  greater 
than  all  others,  until,  like  yeast,  it  quickens  all  the 
inert  masses  of  humanity  and  subdues  all  other 
kingdoms. 

A  world  purpose  and  program  may,  therefore,  be 
said  to  be  coexistent  with  the  Christian  religion. 
This  purpose  was  understood  by  the  Gospel  writers, 
and  the  apostle  Paul  swept  to  the  far  confines  of 
the  future  dominion  of  Christ  when  he  said:  "For 
he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  his  enemies  under 
his  feet."  It  is  not,  of  course,  to  be  supposed  that 
there  was  in  the  minds  of  these  early  believers  any 
very  clearly  defined  idea  as  to  the  full  significance 
and  final  form  of  the  kingdom  to  which  they  be- 
longed and  which  they  were  diligently  spreading 
abroad  in  the  earth.  This  would  be  revealed  in  due 
time.  But  now  they  were  naturally  occupied  with 
the  immediate  and  pressing  problems  of  the  first 
stages  of  this  kingdom — how  to  introduce  it  and 
how  to  keep  it  alive  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile  worl'd. 
Yet  the  small  beginning  and  the  sometimes  dark 
present  were  seen  against  the  bright  background  af- 
forded by  their  vision  of  the  larger  and  more  glori- 
ous future.  From  the  beginning,  therefore,  Chris- 
tianity has  sounded  a  note  of  world  conquest,  al- 
beit that  note  has  not  always  been  equally  clear 
and  confident. 

It  will  be  the  aim  of  this  volume  to  deal  with  this 
outward  and  expansive  movement  of  the  Christian 

12 


INTEODUCTION 

religion  toward  the  limits  of  the  world  and  at  the 
same  time  to  consider  its  transforming  power  in  hu- 
man society,  which  is  both  a  result  of  the  entrance 
of  the  gospel  and  the  necessary  condition  of  its  con- 
tinued advance  and  triumph.  The  detailed  discus- 
sion of  the  doctrines  of  personal  salvation  will  be 
aside  from  our  special  purpose.  A  general  acquaint- 
ance with  these  must  here  be  assumed ;  so  that  after  a 
brief  statement  of  the  central  and  most  unquestioned 
truths  of  Christian  faith  and  experience  that  form 
the  condition  and  basis  of  the  program,  we  must  con- 
sider the  program  itself,  which  is  none  other  than 
the  task  set  before  the  Christian  people  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth,  the 
Christianization  of  the  world. 

The  program  of  the  Christian  religion  will  vary 
in  detail  with  the  growth  and  conditions  of  the  king- 
dom. The  seed  is  cast  into  the  earth,  bearing  witli- 
in  itself  the  living  potencies  of  the  religious  and  mor- 
al transformation  of  the  world.  The  Christian  re- 
ligion is  to  create  the  ever-coming  kingdom  of  God. 
That  kingdom  will  appear  in  all  of  its  stages  of  de- 
velopment, from  the  moment  of  planting  until  the 
time  of  the  "full  corn  in  the  ear.''  We  shall  be  pre- 
pared to  expect  different  manifestations  of  life  at 
the  different  stages  of  development.  The  last  stages 
will  naturally  represent  a  more  complex  and  mani- 
fold life  than  the  earlier  stages. 

There  are  in  the  kingdom  of  God  both  the  change- 
less and  the  ever-changing.  The  truth  of  God's  char- 
acter and  of  the  salvation  that  he  offers  through  his 
Son  is  ever  the  same.  But  men's  apprehension  of 
this  and  the  consequent  manifestation  of  the  truth 

13 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  their  own  lives  and  in  society  is  necessarily  a 
process  of  continuous  unfoldment. 

Again,  that  which  is  living  must  be  ever  evolving, 
expanding,  developing.  The  form  in  which  life  man- 
ifests itself  must  constantly  give  place  to  new  forms 
and  modes  of  expression.  To  sanctify,  for  instance, 
for  all  time  the  mere  methods  of  apostolic  Chris- 
tianity is  to  put  form  above  life  and  to  entomb  the 
living  in  its  own  outgrown  shell.  To  suppose  that 
any  type  of  Church  government,  any  statement  of 
Christian  doctrine,  any  individual  or  social  mani- 
festation of  Christian  power  represents  the  final  and 
complete  development  of  the  Christian  religion  is  to 
break  with  Jesus's  conception  of  the  kingdom  as  a 
growing  thing,  a  principle  of  life  transforming  the 
world.  The  kingdom  itself  must  necessarily  be  in- 
complete and  imperfect  in  its  manifestations  so  long 
as  it  is  composed  of  an  imperfect  membership  in  all 
stages  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  develop- 
ment. 

The  kingdom  of  God  at  any  given  time  represents 
a  resultant  of  the  living  principle  of  Christian  truth 
and  of  the  elements  into  which  it  is  cast.  Men  are 
changed,  lifted,  transformed  by  this  new  power  that 
comes  into  their  lives ;  but  they  are  not  immediately 
made  perfect  or  set  free  from  all  the  results  of  their 
previous  training,  thinking,  and  living.  The  cit- 
izenship of  the  kingdom  is  thus  made  up  of  those 
who  but  imperfectly  understand  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  and  but  partially  exemplify  the  true  spirit 
and  character  of  the  Christian  religion.  Again,  the 
application  of  the  gospel  will  not  always  be  the 
same,  but  will  vary  with  the  needs  of  the  time,  with 

14 


INTRODUCTION 

the  growing  apprehension  of  the  total  mission  of  the 
Christian  religion  in  the  world,  and  with  the  in- 
creased dominance  of  the  Christian  people  and  their 
influence  in  human  society. 

Historically,  the  kingdom  had  its  beginning  with 
the  life  of  Jesus  in  the  flesh,  a  beginning  so  small 
that  Jesus  compared  the  kingdom  at  this  stage  to 
the  mustard  seed.  Nevertheless,  it  is  true  that  this 
small  beginning,  made  in  the  Jewish  community 
nearly  nineteen  centuries  ago,  has  in  most  essentials 
been  repeated  over  and  over  again  in  many  parts  of 
the  earth.  This  has  been  true  wherever  the  leaven 
of  the  kingdom  has  been  Introduced  into  the  raw 
mass  of  heathenism  and  a  new  center  or  beginning 
of  Christian  life  has  been  established.  In  the  last 
century,  more  than  any  other  in  Christian  history, 
these  new  centers  of  Christian  life  have  been  created 
throughout  wide  sections  of  the  globe  hitherto  with- 
out the  gospel.  And  in  those  portions  of  the  world 
still  without  a  knowledge  of  Christ  the  Christian 
Church  is  even  now  planning  to  implant  the  leaven 
of  the  kingdom. 

We  are,  therefore,  living  in  an  age  when  we  may 
look  back  for  nineteen  hundred  years  upon  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  world  and 
the  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  at  the 
same  time  may  behold  in  our  own  day  the  kingdom 
in  many  stages  of  development,  extending  from  the 
stage  of  beginnings  to  that  represented  by  those 
communities  that  have  made  most  progress  in  realiz- 
ing the  Christian  ideal. 

Any  attempt,  therefore,  to  state  the  program  of 
the  Christian  religion  must  take  into  account  the 

15 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

entire  task  confronting  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  world  to-day.  This  task  in  its  nature  ranges 
from  the  first  work  of  the  i)ioneer  missionary  in  the 
land  where  Christ  is  not  known  to  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  people  in  the  most  advanced  Christian 
communities  and  to  the  attitude  of  the  Christian 
people  as  a  whole  to  their  world  task.  It  must  take 
full  account  of  both  the  individual  and  the  social  ap- 
plications of  the  gospel.  It  must  consider  the  de- 
mands of  the  kingdom  both  intensively  and  exten- 
sively. 

In  view  of  the  mistaken  effort  so  frequently  made 
to  place  the  individual  and  the  social  aspects  of  the 
Christian  religion  in  opposition  to  each  other,  it  will 
be  well  to  state  at  the  outset  certain  principles  of 
relation  between  them : 

1.  The  Christian  religion  roots  in  the  indimdiial 
life. 

"Religion  is  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man/^ 
and  that  life  will  bring  forth  its  flower  and  fruitage 
and  varied  manifestation  in  a  right  attitude  and 
conduct  toward  men.  He  who  loves  "God  whom  he 
hath  not  seen"  will  surely  love  "his  brother  whom 
he  hath  seen,"  and  that  love  cannot  in  sincerity  stop 
short  of  genuine  concern  regarding  all  the  conditions 
that  affect  the  life,  happiness,  and  destiny  of  his 
brother. 

2.  The  individual  and  the  social  aspects  of  the 
Christian  religion  are  not  in  opposition,  hut  are  the 
necessary  counterparts  the  one  of  the  other. 

The  sources  of  life  are  in  the  Father,  but  the  Spir- 
it  of  the  Father  in  the  heart  of  the  child  makes  the 
child  a  real  brother  to  every  other  child  of  God. 

16 


INTRODUCTION 

There  is  here  the  bond  of  kinship  and  interest  that 
creates  a  new  family  and  makes  the  brotherhood  of 
man  a  vital  reality.  It  is  as  illogical  to  place  the 
social  and  the  personal  aspects  of  the  gospel  in  oppo- 
sition as  it  would  be  to  think  of  the  spirit  of  true 
sonship  as  being  hostile  to  the  common  family  inter- 
est. The  social  gospel  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  gos- 
pel of  individual  salvation.  It  insists  that  true  son- 
ship  means  true  brotherhood  and  that  brotherhood 
can  be  practiced  in  the  complex  relations  of  society 
only  when  society  is  organized  according  to  Chris- 
tian principles,  when  its  laws  and  its  institutions 
harmonize  with  the  spirit  of  true  brotherhood,  which 
is  the  spirit  of  justice,  of  mutual  consideration,  and 
of  love. 

3.  The  social  program  of  the  Christian  religion  is 
much  more  than  a  mere  program. 

It  contrasts  with  all  programs  imposed  from  with- 
out, in  that  it  proceeds  from  within  and  is  efficient  in 
the  creation  of  a  form  of  character  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  the  new  order  it  proposes  to  set  up. 
Good  laws  and  institutions,  wholesome  conditions 
in  work  and  in  living,  are  not  sufficient  in  themselves 
to  make  a  good  world.  The  character  of  society  must 
unquestionably  be  an  expression  of  the  character  of 
the  people  who  make  up  society.  Yet  nothing  is 
more  erroneous  than  to  suppose  that  society  is  a 
mere  aggregation  of  individuals.  It  is  truly  a  liv- 
ing, growing,  ever-changing  organism,  made  up  of 
people  bound  into  a  unity  of  interdependence  and 
interaction.  The  character  of  the  people  determines 
the  character  of  society ;  but  the  character  of  society 
also  determines  the  character  of  the  people.  Every 
2  17 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

social  movemeut  that  makes  toward  social  justice, 
better  conditions  of  industry  and  home  life,  wiser 
and  more  Christian  control  of  amusements  and  of 
all  educational  forces  must  react  tremendously  in  af- 
fecting the  personal  development  and  character  of 
the  individual  members  of  society.  At  the  same 
time  there  is  no  power  of  vital  moral  growth  in 
society  apart  from  the  inspiration  and  perpetual 
fountain  of  life  springing  up  in  the  hearts  of  its 
members  who  have  become  the  children  of  God  and 
whose  supreme  source  of  moral  strength  is  in  their 
religious  faith.  All  of  which  is  to  say  that  the  life 
of  every  man  is  both  individual  and  social  and  that 
individual  and  social  redemption  cannot  properly  be 
thought  of  separately  or  wrought  out  apart  from 
each  other.  The  two  must  go  on  together,  and  he 
who  would  divorce  the  one  from  the  other  is  the  en- 
emy of  both. 

In  all  that  follows  there  is  this  assumption :  TJiat 
the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  gospel  for  all  nations  he- 
cause  it  is  the  gospel  for  every  marij  and  that  it  is 
the  gospel  of  social  redemption  because  it  saves  men 
in  all  their  relations. 

18 


CHAPTER  I 
MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Clarke,  "The  Ideal  of  Jesus." 

Hall,  "The  Universal  Elements  of  the  Christian  Reli- 
gion." 

Clarke,  "What  Shall  We  Think  of  Christianity?" 
Brown,  "The  Essence  of  Christianity." 
Faunce,  "What  Does  Christianity  Mean?" 


CHAPTER  I 
MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 

From  its  origin  until  now  the  Christian  religion 
has  been  an  increasing  power  in  the  world.  It  has 
been  tested  through  the  ages  and  among  the  many 
races  of  men,  and  to-day,  with  the  strength  of  im- 
mortal youth,  it  claims  the  attention  of  the  whole 
earth  as  never  before.  Ours  is  the  most  complex 
period  thus  far  in  the  life  of  the  world,  a  time  when 
the  severest  strain  is  being  made  on  religious  faith. 
The  intellectual  tests  of  the  age  are  more  searching 
and  the  moral  standards  by  which  religions  are 
judged  more  exacting  than  in  any  previous  period. 
The  life  of  the  whole  world  is  thrown  together  in  a 
vast  complexity  of  interdependence  and  stands  in 
need  of  the  undergirding  of  a  religious  faith  and  a 
moral  consciousness  adequate  to  the  unexampled  de- 
mands of  the  hour. 

The  present  world  situation  constitutes  an  oppor- 
tunity and  a  call  to  assert  the  leadership  of  the  liv- 
ing Christ  that  ought  to  be  the  solemn  and  compel- 
ling inspiration  of  his  followers.  The  time  has  come 
when  that  leadership  in  the  reshaping  of  human  af- 
fairs is  called  for  which  Jesus  alone  can  assume. 
He  must  go  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer  until 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  his.  His  cross,  whicli 
is  the  symbol  of  peace  through  righteousness,  must 
be  lifted  above  the  red  battle  fields  of  earth.  He 
must  lead  in  the  struggle  for  industrial  freedom,  in 
the  reshaping  of  commercial  ideals,  in  the  solution 

21 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  all  the  social  and  moral  problems  of  the  age,  in 
the  religious  thought  and  life  of  the  whole  earth. 
Other  leaders  are  outdistanced  by  the  progress  of 
thought  and  the  advance  of  the  world,  but  they  who 
march  in  the  foremost  files  of  time  must  more  and 
more  recognize  his  authority  and  his  timeless  lead- 
ership of  the  race. 

No  religion  can  meet  the  demands  of  the  unified 
world  of  to-day  except  a  religion  that  embraces  hu- 
manity and  bows  before  the  Author  of  the  universe. 
Religions  and  morals  alike  that  are  bounded  by  na- 
tional frontiers  must  pass.  Henceforth  a  tvorld  life 
stands  in  need  of  a  icorld  religion.  Is  the  Christian 
religion  sufficient  for  these  things?  On  tohat  is  our 
confidence  in  its  ultimate  supremacy  'based? 

If,  indeed,  the  Christian  religion  is  to  become  the 
universal  religion,  it  will  be  for  no  other  reason  than 
because  it  represents  eternal  realities  and  because 
these  realities  may  be  tested  anywhere  and  at  any 
time  in  human  experience  and  may  be  discovered  to 
be  true,  and  because  this  truth  that  may  be  verified 
corresponds  to  and  satisfies  the  deep,  changeless  de- 
mands of  all  men.  In  general,  then,  we  may  say 
that  we  believe  in  the  ultimate  victory  of  the  Chris- 
^/tian  faith  because  of  its  universal  and  verifiable 
/^  truth  J  ivhichy  when  tested  in  the  life,  satisfies  the  re- 
ligious needs  of  the  tvorld;  and  we  believe  this  to  be 
true  of  no  other  religion. 

It  will  be  a  part  of  our  study  to  consider  in  what 
the  essential,  simple  truth  of  Christian  belief  and  ex- 
perience consists.  This  may  the  more  properly  be  at- 
tempted in  brief  compass,  since  the  central  and  es- 
sential truths  of  the  Christian  religion  are  fewer 

22 


MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 

than  are  the  multiplied  and  mooted  doctrines  about 
which  Christian  people  have  differed  so  widely.  For 
Christianity  does  not  stand  or  fall  with  the  thousand 
explanations  and  theological  definitions  that  have  di- 
vided the  Christian  people,  but  rests  upon  those 
truths  which  are  the  common  heritage  of  all  Chris- 
tians and  have  been  tested  in  the  experience  of 
Christians  in  all  ages.  Moreover,  these  great  reali- 
ties, because  they  are  the  common  heritage  of  all 
Christians,  the  writer  trusts,  are  not  unfamiliar  to 
the  reader.  He,  therefore,  will  attempt,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  purpose  of  this  volume,  to  state  as 
simply  as  possible,  apart  from  the  theories  concern- 
ing them,  the  central  verities  upon  which  we  base 
our  belief  in  the  world-conquering  power  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

1.  The  Fatherhood  of  God 

From  words  familiar  to  his  hearers  Jesus  made 
choice  of  terms  by  which  to  represent  the  truth. 
While  he  said  much  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  did 
not  speak  of  God  as  king  or  emperor.  He  chose  a 
word  that  represented  authority,  but  very  much 
more.  It  represented  tenderness  and  compassion ;  it 
represented  love  and  providence;  it  represented  kin- 
ship and  fellowship.  It  was  of  "my  Father,"  "your 
Father,"  and  "our  Father"  that  he  continually 
spoke.  Still  there  was  a  deeper  meaning  to  his  use 
of  the  word  "Father"  than  had  ever  been  given  it  be- 
fore. Even  when  men  have  purged  the  term  of  the 
many  imperfections  associated  with  human  father- 
hood, and  when  they  have  joined  together  all  the  best 
elements  they  know  in  human  fatherhood,  there  yet 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

remains  a  depth  of  unselfish  devotion  and  of  self- 
giving  love  in  God  which  no  word  of  men  can  repre- 
sent. In  this  sense  Jesus  himself  became  the  Word, 
revealing  the  Father  and  filling  the  term  with  a  new 
significance.  He  revealed  in  his  own  person  the  na- 
ture, the  character,  the  very  heart  of  his  Father,  so 
that  henceforth  all  fatherhood  is  glorified  by  the 
very  word  that  signifies  the  relation.  "He  that  hath 
seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father,"  he  said  to  Philip. 
Our  Father,  then,  is  like  Jesus. 

This  is  the  truth  proclaimed  by  Jesus,  the  won- 
drous truth  on  which  human  hearts  lay  hold:  that 
all  men  may  enter  into  intimate  filial  relations  with 
the  good  and  holy  God.  And  the  glory  of  this  truth 
is  that  it  has  stood  the  test  of  the  Christian  experi- 
ence of  the  centuries  and  has  proved  itself  thus  one 
of  the  living  realities  of  the  Christian  faith.  "We 
have  not,"  says  Paul,  "received  the  spirit  of  bondage 
again  unto  fear,  but  we  have  received  the  spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father."  This  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  set  forth  in 
the  language  and  out  of  the  experience  of  his  child.^ 

2.  The  Saviourhood  of  Jesus 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  speak  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  however  briefly,  without  anticipating 
the  thought  of  the  Saviourhood  of  Jesus.    On  the  one 

^"The  Christian  conception  of  God  is  not  abstract,  but 
concrete.  It  is  warm,  personal,  individual,  definite.  The 
Christian  sees  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  charac- 
teristic attribute  Is  love,  and  his  appropriate  name  Is  Fa- 
ther." ("The  Essence  of  Christianity,"  by  William  Adams 
Brown.) 

24 


MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 

hand  the  very  conception  and  character  of  God's  Fa- 
therhood are  revealed  in  him  who  is  our  Saviour,  and 
on  the  other  the  Father  whom  Jesus  has  made  mani- 
fest cannot  be  otherwise  thought  of  than  as  putting 
forth  every  effort  to  save  those  whom  he  loves.  Like- 
wise, in  considering  the  Saviourhood  of  Jesus,  we 
shall  not  cease  to  be  thinking  of  the  Fatherhood  of 
God. 

(1)  Jesus  as  Saviour  in  Christian  experience  and 
as  the  object  of  Christian  faith. 

Christianity  began  in  the  personal  relationship  of 
the  disciples  to  their  Master,  and  Christian  experi- 
ence has  ever  had  this  relationship  as  its  chief  char- 
acteristic. Wherever  the  Christian  religion  has  gone 
in  the  world  and  wherever  the  Christian  type  of  ex- 
perience has  appeared,  the  conspicuous  and  most 
characteristic  fact  in  consciousness  has  been  the  Sav- 
iourhood of  Jesus,  through  whom  the  peace  and  the 
power  of  a  new  life  in  God  have  been  realized. 

There  may  be  said  to  be  a  system  of  Christian 
doctrine,  a  body  of  Christian  ethics,  an  ideal  of 
Christian  character;  but  at  the  heart  of  it  all,  and 
giving  vitality  to  the  whole,  is  a  Christian  faith  and 
life.  And  that  faith  is  faith  in  a  Person,  and  that 
life  is  a  life  by  reason  of  the  indwelling  Christ. 
"Christ  liveth  in  me :  and  that  life  which  I  now  live 
in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for 
me."  Unfortunately,  many  of  the  theories  of  the 
Saviourhood  of  Jesus  have  tended  to  divert  thought 
and  faith  from  Jesus  himself  to  these  theories  and 
explanations.    These  doubtless  have  their  place.    But 

25 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

here  let  the  fact  be  emphasized  that  Christian  faith 
is  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  himself.^ 

(2)  Jesus  is  the  revelation  of  divine  character  and 
the  source  of  Christian  ethics. 

Starting  from  this  personal  center,  Christian  eth- 
ics have  a  significance  they  could  not  otherwise  have. 
The  teachings  of  Jesus  are  not  simply  the  most  per- 
fect conceptions  of  conduct  ever  given  to  the  world ; 
they  become  palpitant  with  life  because  they  repre- 
sent the  will  of  the  One  whom  we  love,  the  present 
living  will  of  Him  whose  approval  is  our  highest  re- 
ward. iVgain,  they  have  the  authority,  not  of  a  sys- 
tem of  useful  and  workable  rules,  but  as  having  their 
source  in  the  very  character  of  God.  For  the  ethics 
of  Jesus  are  not  so  much  rules  of  conduct  as  they 
are  the  spontaneous  expression  of  his  own  soul,  the 
revelation  of  the  inmost  character  of  his  being,  where- 
in he  is  the  supreme  utterance  of  the  character  of 
God  and  of  the  law  of  all  moral  being.  By  himself 
becoming  the  fountain  of  divine  truth  he  has  given, 
not  rules  of  expediency,  but  laws  of  life.  He  lays 
bare  the  bedrock  of  eternal  righteousness,  but  in  so 
doing  shows  us  the  ground  of  our  own  moral  char- 
acter and  the  condition  of  our  highest  life.  In  the 
presence  of  this  revelation  the  true  nature  of  sin  ap- 
pears, and  a  sense  of  personal  unworthiness  in  the 
sight  of  the  holy  God  leads  to  repentance. 

(3)  Jesus  brings  us  to  the  Father. 

The  need  of  God  is  a  universal  need,  as  is  shown 

2"The  personality  of  Jesus  is  great  enough,  and  alone 
great  enough,  to  give  an  adequate  and  final  basis  to  life, 
personal  or  national."  (King,  "Fundamental  Questions," 
pp.  205,  206.) 


MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 

by  the  altar  fires  lighted  by  all  peoples  of  earth  and 
by  their  dim  outreachings  toward  God  in  all  ages. 
Men  have  sometimes  made  their  own  gods ;  and  they 
have  made  them  so  much  after  their  own  likeness 
that  they  not  only  thought  of  these  gods  as  mingling 
with  men,  but  as  living  on  the  low  moral  plane  with 
them.  Thus,  instead  of  finding  God,  they  have  de- 
graded the  very  idea  of  Deity.  Others  have  thought 
of  God  as  so  far  removed  from  human  affairs  as  to 
be  unapproachable  by  mortals,  while  still  others  have 
denied  to  Deity  the  element  of  personality  and  have 
left  no  grounds  in  their  thinking  for  possible  person- 
al relationship  with  God. 

But  Jesus  revealed  the  holy  God  in  personal  terms, 
as  reaching  down  to  lift  men  up  to  his  own  likeness. 
The  salvation  he  offers  is  in  terms  of  character.  The 
ideal  of  this  character  is  Godlikeness :  "Ye  therefore 
shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect." 
Jesus  himself  is  the  revelation  of  what  that  perfec- 
tion is.2  This  salvation  that  Jesus  offers  is  a  deliv- 
erance from  sin  and  a  realization  of  Godlikeness  in 
order  to  fellowship  with  God. 

No  more  is  it  the  arbitrary  favor  of  Deity  that  is 
to  be  placated  by  pleasing  offerings.  But  God,  whose 
good  pleasure  it  was  "through  him  to  reconcile  all 

8"The  distinctive  glory  of  Christianity  is  that  it  contains 
a  dynamic  which  can  transform  the  man  who  loves  sin  into 
the  man  who  loathes  sin  and,  still  more,  into  the  man  who 
has  broken  with  sin  and  is  living  a  new  life.  It  also  pro- 
claims and  maintains  that  any  religion  is  unworthy  of  the 
name  unless  it  manifests  itself  in  a  changed  life,  which  is 
constantly  rising  ethically."  ("Sociological  Progress  in 
Mission  Lands,"  Capen,  p.  142.) 

27 


'PKOGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

things  unto  himself,"  is  well  pleased  when  by  the 
light  from  the  face  of  Jesus  and  from  his  cross  we 
shall  see  the  infinite  depths  of  divine  holiness  and 
love  and  shall  hate  whatever  is  unholy,  while  we 
humbly  throw  ourselves  upon  the  mercy  and  good- 
ness of  our  Father.  And  it  is  his  joy  to  receive  us 
and  to  hold  us  unto  eternal  life  by  his  own  hand. 
And  "no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  the  Fa- 
ther's hands." 

Salvation  is  thus  the  power  of  a  new  life  of  moral 
triumph  and  of  living  fellowship  with  the  Heavenly 
Father  through  Jesus  Christ.  *^As  many  as  received 
him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of 
God,  even  to  them  that  believed  on  his  name."  He 
is  the  personal,  living  Way  through  whom  sinful  men 
have  seen  the  light  of  a  new  hope  and  have  found 
entrance  into  fellowship  with  the  holy  God.  This  is 
a  salvation  that  means  the  re-creation  of  ideals,  the 
establishment  of  personal  relations  with  the  Heaven- 
ly Father,  and  divine  help  working  for  the  comple- 
tion of  that  salvation  which  is  realized  in  the  abun- 
dant life  of  the  fulfilled  personality  of  which  Jesus 
is  the  pattern.  "And  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they 
should  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  him  whom 
thou  didst  send,  even  Jesus  Christ."  The  ultimate 
fact  in  the  Saviourhood  of  Jesus  is  the  establishment 
of  this  life  in  God. 

3.  The  Friendship  of  the  Spirit 

The  heart  hunger  of  the  world  for  God  is  not  sat- 
isfied that  the  Father,  however  good  and  loving, 
should  be  withdrawn  behind  the  veil  of  his  universe. 
The  cry  of  the  soul  is  for  light,  for  understanding, 

28 


MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 

and  for  that  fellowship  with  God  himself  through 
which  what  God  is  and  wills  becomes  manifest  to  his 
children.  The  very  heart  of  religious  desire  is  for 
communion  with  God,  for  fellowship  with  the  great 
Companion,  for  enlightenment  and  guidance.  Prof. 
Hugh  Black  has  stated  this  so  finely  that  we  cannot 
do  better  than  quote  him  here : 

Communion  with  God  is  the  great  fact  of  life.  All 
our  forms  of  worship,  all  our  ceremonies  and  sym- 
bols of  religion  find  their  meaning  here.  There  is,  it 
is  true,  an  ethic  of  religion,  certain  moral  teachings 
valuable  for  life.  There  are  truths  of  religion  to  be 
laid  hold  of  by  the  reason;  there  are  the  consola- 
tions of  religion  to  comfort  the  heart.  But  the  root 
of  all  religion  is  mystical  union,  a  communion  with 
the  Unseen,  a  friendship  with  God  open  to  man.  Re- 
ligion is  not  an  acceptance  of  a  creed  or  a  burden  of 
commandments,  but  a  personal  secret  of  the  soul  to 
be  attained,  each  man  for  himself.  It  is  the  experi- 
ence of  the  nearness  of  God,  the  mysterious  contact 
with  the  divine,  and  the  consciousness  that  we  stand 
in  a  special  individual  relationship  with  him.  The 
first  state  of  exaltation,  when  the  knowledge  bursts 
upon  the  soul,  cannot,  of  course,  last;  but  its  effect 
remains  in  inward  peace  and  outward  impulse  to- 
ward nobler  life. 

Men  of  all  ages  have  known  this  close  relationship. 
The  possibility  of  it  is  the  glory  of  life;  the  fact  of 
it  is  the  romance  of  history  and  the  true  reading  of 
history.  All  devout  men  that  have  ever  lived  have 
lived  in  the  light  of  this  communion.  All  religious 
experience  has  had  this  in  common:  that  somehow 
the  soul  is  so  possessed  by  God  that  doubt  of  his  ex- 
istence ceases,  and  the  task  of  life  becomes  to  keep 
step  with  him,  so  that  there  may  be  correspondence 
between  the  outer  and  inner  conditions  of  life.  Men 
have  known  this  communion  in  such  a  degree  that 

29 


PKOGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAI^  RELIGION 

they  have  been  called  preeminently  the  friends  of 
God,  but  something  of  the  experience  which  under- 
lies the  term  is  true  of  the  pious  of  all  generations.* 

He  continues: 

To  us  in  our  place  in  history  communion  with  God 
comes  through  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  an  ineffable  mys- 
tery, but  it  is  still  a  fact  of  experience.  Only  through 
Jesus  do  we  know  God,  his  interest  in  us,  his  desire 
for  us,  his  purpose  with  us.  He  not  only  shows  us  in 
his  own  example  the  blessedness  of  a  life  in  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father,  but  he  makes  it  possible  for 
us.  United  to  Jesus,  we  know  ourselves  united  to 
God.  The  power  of  Jesus  is  not  limited  to  the  his- 
torical impression  made  by  his  life.  It  entered  the 
world  as  history;  it  lives  in  the  world  as  spiritual 
fact  to-day.^ 

Still  it  is  true  that  our  hearts  cry  for  the  living 
Christ,  and  we  w^ant  to  walk  with  him  and  talk 
with  him  and  feel  that  he  is  even  now  our  present 
Friend  who  guides  us  in  the  way  of  truth  and  who 
stands  by  our  side  in  every  hour  of  trial  or  joy,  of 
labor  or  rest,  the  One  w^hose  presence  is  both  strength 
and  light.  We  still  need  the  Saviour,  that  we  may 
understand  and  come  to  the  Father.  We  still  yearn 
for  the  human  touch  that  is  divine.  "The  best  of  all 
is,  God  is  with  us.''  "The  communion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit"  is  the  high  and  holy  companionship  with 
God.    This  is  the  friendship  of  the  Spirit. 

4.  The  Completeness  of  This  Threefold  Teaching 

In  these  three  great  facts  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion— the  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  Saviourhood  of 

^"Friendship,"  by  Hugh.  Black,  pp.  222-224. 
UMd.y  pp.  224,  225. 

30 


MEETING  THE  WORLD'S  RELIGIOUS  NEEDS 

Jesus,  and  the  friendsLip  of  the  Spirit — we  have  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  world's  deepest  religious  needs 
are  met.  Here  the  Christian  religion  answers  the 
need  for  an  intelligent  personal  cause  as  the  ba- 
sis of  rational  thinking.  It  represents  God  to  men 
as  just  and  good  and  undergirds  the  universe  with 
righteousness.  It  gives  assurance  through  Jesus 
Christ  that  this  God  is  the  Father  of  all  men,  plac- 
ing supreme  value  upon  the  character  and  destiny  of 
his  children,  and  is  not  willing  that  any  should  per- 
ish.6  It  supplies  a  transforming  and  re-creative  pow- 
er that  comes  with  the  vision  of  God  in  Christ,  a  vi- 
sion of  One  sinless  and  yet  loving  the  sinful,  a  vision 
that  brings  to  human  hearts  a  sense  of  unworthi- 
ness  and  of  the  need  of  God.  It  is  a  wondrous  vision 
of  "love  divine,  that  stooped  to  share  our  sharpest 
pangs,  our  bitterest  tear." 

The  sense  of  a  power  within  the  soul  enabling  it  to 
reach  up  and  to  take  hold  of  the  hand  outstretched 
to  lift,  the  yielding  to  Him,  the  submission  of  faith 
that  gives  over  all  things  into  his  keeping  and  takes 
up  life  at  his  command,  the  joy  of  conscious  child- 
hood— these  are  experiences  of  which  we  know  and 
can  testify,  but  that  must  ever  remain  beyond  the 
reach  of  rational  analysis  and  explanation.  They 
are  the  experiences  to  which  millions  of  Christian 
people,  and  those  of  almost  every  race  on  the  earth, 
can  bear  witness.    It  is  at  once  a  unique  type  of  ex- 

^"The  strength  of  any  religion  is  measured  by  its  concep- 
tion of  God.  .  .  .  The  whole  vitality  of  Christian  faith 
springs  from  the  conviction  that  the  absolute  Sovereign  is 
the  absolute  Love."     (Report  of  Edinburgh  Conference.) 

31 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

perience  and  marks  a  unique  type  of  character,  but 
it  is  limited  only  by  the  opportunity  and  the  willing- 
ness of  men  to  accept  the  verities  of  the  Christian 
religion. 

Thought  Questions 

1.  Name  for  yourself  the  essential  truths  of  your  own 
personal  Christian  belief. 

2.  Write  out  for  yourself  a  definition  of  Christian  faith. 

3.  Do  you  believe  that  the  Christian  religion  is  destined 
to  become  the  universal  religion?    Why? 

32 


CHAPTER  II 

PROVIDING  THE  BASIS  OF  A  NEW  SOCIAL 
ORDER 
3 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Peabody,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question.' 
Gladden,  "The  Church  and  the  Kingdom." 
Alexander,  "The  Son  of  Man." 
Mathews,  "The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus." 
Vedder,  "Socialism  and  the  Ethics  of  Jesus." 


CHAPTER  II 

PROVIDING  THE  BASIS  OF  A  NEW  SOCIAL 
ORDER 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  set  forth  briefly  the 
facts  of  the  Christian  religion  as  they  enter  into  the 
religious  experience  of  the  individual.  In  this  chap- 
ter we  continue  the  study  of  Christianity  as  a  world 
religion,  but  on  the  social  side.  The  Christian  reli- 
gion does  not  find  its  complete  expression  apart 
from  the  life  of  the  Christian  community.  The  point 
of  special  emphasis  in  this  chapter  is  the  moral  poTVf- 
er  of  Christianity  in  the  creation  of  a  new  social  or- 
der. Yet  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  a  moral 
force  only  as  it  is  a  religious  force,  while  its  suffi- 
ciency for  the  religious  needs  of  mankind  must  be 
found  in  its  social  no  less  than  in  its  individual  ade- 
quacy. 

I  shall  now  attempt  briefly  to  state  the  social 
ideal  of  the  Christian  religion  and  some  of  the  mo- 
tives and  moral  forces  that  make  for  the  creation  of 
a  better  social  order. 

1.  The  Kingdom  of  God  a  Social  Ideal 

The  social  ideal  of  the  Christian  religion  should 
first  be  studied  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  regarding 
the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  very  important  to  get  an 
understanding  of  the  kingdom  as  Jesus  thought  of 
it,  so  that  all  of  his  teachings  regarding  it  may  be 
comprehended  and  may  be  seen  in  their  proper  rela- 
tion to  it.    But  it  is  the  defect  of  most  definitions 

35 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  the  kingdom  that  they  lay  hold  on  some  partial 
view  of  the  comprehensive  idea  of  Jesus  and  empha- 
size one  phase  while  neglecting  another  not  less  es- 
sential. Jesus  proclaimed  it  as  beginning  with  the 
reign  of  God  in  the  heart  of  the  believer  and  reach- 
ing to  the  subjection  of  the  whole  life  of  society. 
The  following  definition  by  Dr.  Gross  Alexander  has 
the  merit  of  balanced  statement  of  all  the  chief  ele- 
ments of  Jesus's  teaching  concerning  the  kingdom : 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  that  divine  society  which 
God,  through  Jesus  his  Son,  is  organizing  on  earth 
and  in  which  God,  as  both  Father  and  Sovereign,  ex- 
ercises dominion  and  rule  in  the  souls  and  over  the 
lives  of  its  members,  who,  on  their  part,  having  en- 
tered it  through  repentance  and  faith  and  a  renew- 
al by  God  of  their  moral  nature,  render  to  him,  as 
filial  subjects,  the  obedience  of  a  free  and  willing 
righteousness,  both  of  heart  and  of  conduct ;  a  reign 
of  love  which,  while  beginning  in  the  inward  life  of 
the  individual,  realizes  itself  in  all  his  social  and 
civil  relations  and  through  him  extends  its  sway  over 
others,  so  that  it  is  destined  to  take  possession  of 
and  to  transform  the  entire  domain  of  human  life  in 
this  world  and  to  be  consummated  in  a  perfect  and 
eternal  state  in  the  world  to  come.^ 

Dr.  Shailer  Mathews  defines  it  more  briefly  thus : 

By  "the  kingdom  of  God"  Jesus  meant  an  ideal, 
though  progressively  approximated,  social  order  in 
which  the  relation  of  men  to  God  is  that  of  sons  and 
[therefore]  to  each  other  that  of  broth ers.^ 

Another  statement  of  more  than  usual  grasp  and 
comprehensiveness  is  that  of  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody : 

i"Tlie  Son  of  Man,"  pp.  153,  154. 
="The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus,"  p.  54. 
36 


THE  BASIS  OF  A  NEW  SOCIAL  ORDER 

The  social  ideal,  then,  of  Jesus  Christ  is  to  be  in- 
terpreted only  through  his  religious  consciousness. 
He  looks  on  human  life  from  above  and,  seeing  it 
slowly  shaped  and  purified  by  the  life  of  God,  re- 
gards the  future  of  human  society  with  a  transcend- 
ent and  unfaltering  hope.  In  the  purposes  of  God 
the  kingdom  is  already  existent,  and  when  his  will 
is  done  on  earth,  then  his  kingdom,  which  is  now 
spiritual  and  interior,  will  be  as  visible  and  as  con- 
trolling as  it  is  in  heaven. 

On  the  other  hand,  Jesus  approaches  life  from 
within,  through  the  inspiration  of  the  individual. 
Here  is  his  answer  to  that  question  which  the  dis- 
ciples themselves  asked:  ^'When  shall  these  things 
be?  and  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming?"  The 
kingdom  is  to  come,  answers  Jesus,  not  by  outward 
force  or  social  organization  or  apocalyptic  dream, 
but  by  the  progressive  sanctification  of  individual 
human  souls.  And  does  one  ask  again  what  is  to  be 
the  motive  of  this  personal  sanctification?  It  is  to 
be  found,  according  to  Jesus,  in  the  thought  of  the 
kingdom.  On  the  one  hand,  the  kingdom  is  an  un- 
folding process  of  social  righteousness,  to  be  worked 
out  through  individuals;  on  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
dividual is  prompted  to  his  better  life  by  the  thought 
of  bringing  in  the  kingdom.  Thus  the  individual 
and  the  kingdom  grow  together.  The  individual 
discovers  himself  in  the  social  order;  and  the  social 
order,  like  that  "whole  creation''  of  which  St.  Paul 
wrote,  "waiteth  for  the  revealing  of  the  sons  of 
God."3 

The  following  characteristics  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  which  are  set  forth  in  the  above  definitions, 
should  be  distinguished  and  definitely  fixed  in  mind : 

(1)  Its  form  is  that  of  a  society,  or  family,  over 
which  God  rules  as  Sovereign  and  Father. 

'"Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question,"  pp.  100-102. 
37 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(2)  Its  meryihersMp  is  composed  of  individuals 
who  have  entered  into  fellowship  with  God  as  his 
obedient  children  and  who  love  and  serve  each  oth- 
er as  brothers. 

(3)  Its  metJiod  of  growth  is  spiritual,  as  opposed 
to  mechanical  or  material ;  is  vital  and  from  within, 
as  opposed  to  programs  imposed  from  without  and 
depending  on  external  influence  only.* 

(4)  Its  sway  is  to  extend  to  all  the  relations 
that  men  bear  to  each  other  in  human  society,  to 
the  whole  domain  of  human  life  on  the  earth,  and 
will  "be  consummated  in  a  perfect  and  eternal  state 
in  the  world  to  come." 

The  ideal  of  the  kingdom  as  taught  by  Jesus  re- 
gards society  and  the  individual  always  in  their  re- 
lation.5  As  they  cannot  exist  apart,  so  one  cannot 
be  changed  without  changing  the  other.  The  new 
society  is  made  up  of  those  who  have  the  kingdom 
within,  and  in  turn  the  members  of  the  kingdom  will 
create  a  society  whose  every  expression  is  in  keep- 
ing with  the  spirit  of  the  kingdom,  where  justice, 

*"The  Christian  life  of  the  kingdom  is  a  life  above  this 
world,  lived  in  personal  fellowship  with  God.  From  him  Its 
motives  and  Inspirations  proceed."  (Clarke's  "The  Ideal  of 
Jesus.") 

^"It  is  the  marked  feature  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  that 
he  holds  in  just  equipoise  the  two  great  elemental,  equally 
necessary  ethical  truths:  First,  that  society  cannot  be  re- 
generated except  by  the  birth  of  the  individual  souls  into 
a  new  life;  and,  secondly,  that  the  individual  cannot  exist 
apart  from  society  and  cannot  be  saved  apart  from  his  so- 
cial relation."  ("Socialism  and  the  Ethics  of  Jesus,"  Ved- 
der,  p.  345.) 

38 


THE  BASIS  OF  A  NEW  SOCIAL  ORDER 

mutual  consideration,  and  brotherly  kindness  are 
dominant. 

Here,  then,  we  have  no  detailed  economic,  indus- 
trial, political,  or  other  sort  of  program  prescribed 
for  the  social  order.  But  we  have  an  ideal  of  a 
brotherhood  in  which  justice  and  love  are  to  obtain. 
We  have  no  one  method  of  organizing  society  as  the 
final  and  perfect  method ;  but  we  have  the  perennial 
motive  of  brotherly  love,  which  is  willing  to  test  all 
methods  in  search  of  the  best  and  the  most  brother- 
ly. Above  all  and  differing  in  toto  from  all  other 
social  ideals  and  programs,  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
made  possible  because  of  the  power  of  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  to  create  a  Christlike  citizenship  of 
men  and  women  whose  supreme  passion  it  is  to  help 
bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  kingdom  of  God,  then,  represents  the  divine 
ideal  of  a  new  humanity.  It  is  an  ideal  at  once  re- 
ligious and  ethical,  personal  and  social.  Jesus  deals 
with  persons  in  their  relation  to  God,  but  always  to 
make  them  worthy  members  of  the  new  society  in 
the  kingdom  of  God,  in  which  alone  the  divine  ideal 
of  the  individual  may  be  realized.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  any  view  of  individual  salvation  that 
neglects  the  social  spirit  of  the  kingdom  is  out  of 
harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  as  is  also  the  ef- 
fort to  perfect  society  while  disregarding  the  necessi- 
ty for  the  divine  life  and  character  in  its  members. 

2.  Human  Worth  an  Individual  and  a  Social  Motive 
Force 

The  influence  of  the  social  ideal  can  be  estimated 
only  in  relation  to  the  value  placed  upon  the  indi- 

39 


PKOGEAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  EELIGION 

vidual  members  of  society.  Therefore  we  cannot 
properly  estimate  the  effect  of  the  ideal  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  as  a  motive  force  in  social  redemption 
without  giving  careful  consideration  to  the  value 
placed  upon  the  individual  by  the  Christian  religion. 
The  Christian  idea  of  human  worth  is  not  confined 
to  a  few  isolated  phases  of  Christian  thought.  It  is 
an  underlying  assumption  of  all  the  teachings  of  Je- 
sus and  permeates  all  Christian  thinking.  It  is  un- 
folded to  full  view  only  in  the  light  of  a  complete 
understanding  of  the  Christian  religion.  In  this 
brief  discussion  we  shall  consider  human  worth  from 
the  following  viewpoints : 

(1)  Man's  worth  as  growing  out  of  his  value  to  the 
Father — his  sonship. 

The  high  and  holy  character  of  God  as  seen  in  Je- 
sus exalts  and  gives  immeasurable  dignity  and  worth 
to  every  one  whom  the  Father  acknowledges  as  his 
child  and  to  whom  he  gives  the  pledge  of  his  help  in 
the  struggle  toward  true  self-realization.  There  are 
no  ties  of  earthly  nobility  that  can  so  exalt  the  dig- 
nity of  a  soul.  To  know  one's  self  the  child  of  the 
Heavenly  Father  and  to  behold  the  larger  destiny  of 
the  sons  of  God  is  to  revolutionize  human  values  and 
give  personality  a  worth  and  glory  nowhere  suggest- 
ed in  other  religions  or  systems  of  thought.  Every- 
where Jesus  emphasizes  this  value  that  God  places 
upon  his  child.  He  teaches  that  man  is  of  higher 
worth  than  the  lower  animals;  that  religious  insti- 
tutions, such  as  the  Sabbath  and  the  temple,  have 
their  meaning  only  in  service  to  mankind;  that  the 
Father  rejoices  over  the  return  of  the  son.  But 
above  all  measurement  is  Jesus's  giving  of  himself 

40 


THE  BASIS  OF  A  NEW  SOCIAL  ORDER 

unto  death  for  human  salvation.     Here  we  see  the 
divine  estimate  of  human  worth. 

(2)  Man's  worth  discovered  in  the  higher  human 
capahilities  revealed  in  Jesus. 

Jesus  is  not  only  the  revelation  to  us  of  the  char- 
acter of  God ;  he  is  also  the  revelation  of  God's  ideal 
man.  Intimations  of  the  higher  capabilities  of  hu- 
man life  we  indeed  find  here  and  there  among  men ; 
and  some  have  stood  far  above  their  fellows,  exhib- 
iting those  qualities  of  soul  that  men  have  instinc- 
tively recognized  as  noble  and  worthy  of  human  imi- 
tation. Yet  with  all  these  there  were  jarring  incon- 
sistencies and  manifest  moral  imperfections.  But  in 
Jesus  the  full-orbed  life  of  moral  and  religious  per- 
fection appears.  Beyond  what  he  was,  men  have  not 
been  able  to  conceive  or  advance  in  strength  and 
loveliness  of  moral  character.  In  him  we  behold  the 
earnest  of  the  divine  purpose  to  develop  a  kingdom 
of  sons  and  daughters  in  whom  a  like  character  shall 
be  formed.  They  who  accept  this  as  the  ideal  and 
goal  of  character  will  value  human  life  not  by  what 
it  is,  but  by  this  pledge  of  what  it  is  to  become. 

(3)  The  value  of  man  as  increased  hy  the  helief  in 
the  immortal  life. 

The  value  of  the  individual  man  is  still  further 
enhanced  by  the  lifting  of  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
outlook  afforded  by  our  home  on  the  earth.  There  is 
boundless  room  for  the  ever-increasing  fullness  of 
life  and  for  the  ceaseless  becoming  of  the  soul.  This 
divine  life  begins  on  earth.  Life  eternal  is  already 
existent  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  know  God  as 
their  Heavenly  Father  and  have  entered  into  his 
kingdom  of  obedience  and  of  loving  service.     They 

41 


PROGEAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

drink  at  the  ceaseless  fountains  of  divine  life,  unin- 
terrupted by  the  incident  of  bodily  decay.  Every  hu- 
man experience,  all  the  forces  of  this  world  that 
play  upon  the  life  and  affect  character,  have  a  mean- 
ing out  of  proportion  to  the  measurements  of  three- 
score years  and  ten,  inasmuch  as  they  have  to  do  with 
the  character  and  destiny  of  one  who  has  godlike  ca- 
pabilities to  be  realized  throughout  unending  time. 

So  far  from  minifying  this  world  and  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  it,  these  are  exalted  as  not  otherwise 
possible,  since  they  have  enduring  value  and  signifi- 
cance. Thus  human  life,  viewed  both  individually 
and  socially,  is  to  be  immeasurably  bigger  and  more 
exalted  because  of  its  divinely  appointed  destiny. 
The  instinctive  longing  for  immortality  is  to  find  its 
answer  at  the  doors  of  deathless  life  thrown  open 
when  Jesus  arose  from  the  dead.  The  highest  reach- 
es of  our  human  aspirations  for  God  and  life  are  not 
vain  delusions  that  mock  us,  but  the  deep  of  the  hu- 
man calling  to  the  deep  of  the  divine.  This  call  is 
not  to  be  disappointed :  "If  it  were  not  so,  I  would 
have  told  you." 

(4)  The  value  of  the  individual  as  growing  out  of 
his  relation  to  the  kingdom. 

In  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  is  not  an  aggrega- 
tion of  unrelated  individuals,  but  a  family,  each  in- 
dividual is  dependent  for  his  own  complete  life  upon 
the  character  of  the  family.  The  total  life  and  hap- 
piness of  the  family  is  in  turn  necessarily  dependent 
upon  the  character  and  well-being  of  the  individuals 
that  compose  it.  Jesus  made  it  clear  that  the  indi- 
vidual is  to  be  measured  by  his  relation  to  the  so- 
ciety of  which  he  is  a  part.    Each  is  a  servant  of  the 

42 


THE  BASIS  OF  A  NEW  SOCIAL  ORDER 

whole.  The  standard  of  greatness  is  in  terms  of 
service :  "But  whosoever  would  become  great  among 
you  shall  be  your  minister ;  and  whosoever  would  be 
first  among  you  shall  be  servant  of  all."  ^  Each  in- 
dividual, therefore,  has  an  added  value  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  a  new  setting  that 
gives  new  luster  to  personality,  because  it  affords  a 
new  opportunity  to  give  and  to  receive  all  that  makes 
for  the  fullness  of  life. 

Devotion  to  Jesus  is  expressed  in  service  to  men. 
Therefore  obedience  to  him  and  devotion  to  his  king- 
dom are  identical.  Loyalty  to  the  King  and  to  his 
kingdom  are  indistinguishable.  The  Christian  finds 
his  life  in  giving  it  for  the  kingdom.  Self-realiza- 
tion and  the  growth  of  the  kingdom  are  both  de- 
pendent upon  the  self-sacrifice  and  personal  loyalty 
of  the  individual.  Loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
kingdom  is  the  inspiring  motive  that  at  once  ele- 
vates human  character  and  enhances  all  human  val- 
ues. This  is  not  asceticism,  but  it  is  a  holy  aban- 
don to  the  interests  of  the  kingdom.  The  Christian 
ideal  still  requires  that  the  disciples  shall  consecrate 
themselves  to  the  truth,  even  as  Jesus  consecrated 
himself  to  the  truth.  When  the  interests  of  God's 
children  call  for  it,  when  moral  wrong  is  to  be  over- 
come, when  the  kingdom  requires  it — then  to  suffer, 
to  give  up  home,  friends,  native  land,  or  even  life 
itself,  is  glorious.  In  so  doing  the  follower  of  Jesus 
comes  to  know  the  deeper  things  of  the  experience  of 
his  Master  and  at  the  same  time  most  perfectly  pro- 

«Mark  x.  43,  44,  ix.  35;  also  Matthew  xx.  26,  27,  xxiii.  11, 
and  Luke  xxii.  26. 

43 


PEOGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  KELIGION 

claims  the  truth  and  the  life  and  the  love  of  God. 
This  is  what  Jesus  meant  when  he  said  of  himself: 
"Except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  earth  and  die, 
it  abideth  by  itself  alone;  but  if  it  die,  it  beareth 
much  fruit.  He  that  loveth  his  life  loseth  it;  and 
he  that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it 
unto  life  eternal.''  There  is  in  the  giving  of  life  for 
love's  sake,  for  truth's  sake,  for  right's  sake,  without 
stopping  to  count  the  cost,  something  that  elevates 
the  soul  to  godlikeness  and  at  the  same  time  pro- 
duces a  harvest  in  the  creation  of  a  like  spirit  in 
other  lives. 

Here,  in  fact,  we  are  permitted  in  a  very  real 
sense  to  enter  into  the  experiences  of  the  Master 
and  to  share  in  his  Saviourhood.  The  kneeling  fig- 
ure of  the  dead  Livingstone  at  Ilala,  alone  in  the 
heart  of  the  Dark  Continent,  his  last  strength  freely 
given  for  Africa  and  his  last  breath  poured  out  in 
prayer  for  the  deliverance  of  her  enchained  people, 
has  about  it  a  light  that  reminds  us  of  that  on  Cal- 
vary, and  forth  from  that  lonely  chamber  has  gone  a 
power  to  quicken  men's  faith  in  God  and  to  lead  them 
to  renewed  dedication  to  God's  work  in  the  world. 

So  it  is  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus  lives  in  those  who 
are  identified  with  him,  and  his  kingdom  spreads 
abroad  through  the  contagious  influence  of  those 
who  have  the  spirit  of  the  kingdom  in  their  hearts. 

We  shall  later  have  occasion  to  indicate  more  fully 
the  significance  of  some  of  the  principles  set  forth  in 
this  chapter.  Enough  has  been  said,  however,  to  give 
a  general  conception  of  the  ideal  and  of  the  motive 
forces  in  the  Christian  religion  that  make  for  the  cre- 
ation of  a  new  social  order,  a  universal  brotherhood. 

44 


CHAPTER  III 
UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 


BIBLIOGKAPHY 

Barnes,    "Two    Thousand    Years    of    Missions    berore 
Carey." 

Carver,  "Missions  and  Modern  Thought." 

"Report  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference,"  Vol.  IV. 

Clarke,  "A  Study  of  Christian  Missions." 

Doughty,  "The  Call  of  the  World." 

Mott,  "The  Pastor  and  Modern  Missions." 


CHAPTER  III 

UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 

1.  A  Universal  Propaganda  Is  the  Necessary  Implica- 
tion of  a  Universal  Message 

To  be  intrusted  with  a  truth,  the  truth  that  has 
in  it  hope  and  life  for  the  world,  is  to  be  under  the 
utmost  obligation  to  give  it  to  the  world.^  The  very 
fact  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  offers  the  only  ade- 
quate basis  of  hope  for  the  religious  and  social  life 
of  mankind,  its  unexampled  power  to  meet  the  needs 
of  all  people,  irrespective  of  race  or  condition,  is 
itself  an  unanswerable  reason  why  it  should  be  giv- 
en to  all  as  their  right.  The  Christian  message  bears 
upon  its  face  the  image  of  man  universal,  and  as 
such  it  belongs  to  all  men ;  and  no  one  dare  deny  the 
right  of  all  to  possess  it. 

Moreover,  the  nature  of  the  gospel  is  such  that  it 
cannot  be  received  into  the  heart  without  creating 
there  a  desire  to  impart  it  to  others.  The  love  that 
is  awakened  in  the  heart  of  a  child  of  God  impels 
him  to  desire  the  best  things  for  his  brother;  and 
the  best  to  the  Christian  is  the  good  news  of  Jesus 
Christ,  with  all  that  this  means  to  the  one  who  has 
received  it.    The  Christian  must  by  the  compulsion  of 

^"Wlien  Christianity  is  rightly  grasped,  there  Is  no  need 
of  special  commands  to  create  missionary  duty.  The  mis- 
sionary impulse  is  of  Christianity  itself.  The  normal  re- 
ligion for  mankind  cannot  he  kept  in  a  corner."  (Clarke, 
"The. Ideal  of  Jesus.") 

47 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Christ  within  yearn  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is 
lost.  It  is  clearly  impossible  for  any  one  with  the 
spirit  of  Christ  to  be  willing  to  accept  the  blessings 
of  the  Christian  religion  and  keep  them  for  himself 
alone.  Such  unconcern  for  others  is  the  badge  of  un- 
brotherliness  and  the  sure  sign  that  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  kingdom  are  not  supreme  in  the  life. 

2.  The  Universal  Scope  of  His  Gospel,  Always  Assumed 
by  Jesus,  Is  Clearly  Annunciated  in  His  Teachings 

In  trying  to  discover  the  thought  of  Jesus  regard- 
ing the  future  of  his  kingdom  we  are  concerned  with 
the  large  outlines  of  his  ideal  and  purpose.  It  is  to 
the  far  horizon,  on  which  Jesus  gazed  with  uncloud- 
ed vision  and  to  which  he  pointed  with  conviction 
and  purpose  as  the  only  boundary  of  his  kingdom, 
that  we  desire  to  look.  The  program  of  Jesus  must 
be  discerned  in  whatever  is  revealed  regarding  his 
consciousness  of  the  final  outcome  of  his  kingdom  in 
the  world  and  in  the  training  and  specific  instruc- 
tion which  he  gave  to  his  disciples  relative  to  his 
continuance  of  his  work  through  them. 

(1)  The  consciousness  of  Jesus  as  revealed  in  cer- 
tain  moments  of  exalted  emotion. 

Here  it  becomes  us  to  enter  with  reverent  feet. 
Nevertheless,  we  are  impelled  to  search  for  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  mind  of  Jesus  and  to  examine 
the  records  for  anything  that  may  throw  light  on  the 
consciousness  of  Him  who  is  the  Truth,  There  are 
given  us  in  the  Gospels  what  may  be  called  the  rhap- 
sodies of  Jesus,  states  of  consciousness  in  which  time 
and  circumstance  sink  from  view  and  Jesus  seems 
to  be  looking  on  the  ultimate,  the  final,  the  outcome, 

48 


UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 

far  beyond  the  struggle  and  the  storm  of  battle,  to 
the  end  of  the  long,  hard  way  leading  thither.  These 
exalted  utterances  were  prompted  by  some  event  that 
stirred  the  very  deeps  of  the  soul  of  Jesus. 

The  confession  of  Peter  at  Csesarea  Philippi  was 
the  occasion  of  such  an  utterance.  "Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  son  of  the  living  God,"  Peter  had  said, 
thus  giving  expression  to  the  supreme  fact  and  truth 
to  which  Jesus  had  been  leading  his  disciples  as  the 
underlying  basis  of  that  faith  out  of  which  his  king- 
dom was  to  grow.  It  was  as  though,  after  long 
months  of  preparation,  Jesus  now  beheld  with  deep 
emotion  the  outlines  of  the  kingdom  of  God  emerg- 
ing as  he  saw  the  truth  that  was  to  make  it  a  reali- 
ty begin  to  possess  and  to  transform  this  man  Peter. 
Jesus  foresaw  not  only  the  rocklike  character  of  a 
future  disciple,  but  the  triumphant  power  of  the  or- 
ganized body  of  his  disciples  moving  forward  under 
the  inspiration  and  power  of  this  conviction,  first 
clearly  formed  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  Simon  Pe- 
ter. Thus  moved,  "Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
him,  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar- Jonah:  for  flesh 
and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Fa- 
ther which  is  in  heaven.  And  I  say  also  unto  thee, 
that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  church ;  and  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail 
against  it." 

Again,  when  the  seventy  returned  and  Jesus  rec- 
ognized in  this  beginning  of  their  ministry  the  new 
power  to  be  released  through  them  in  the  conquest 
of  evil  in  the  earth,  he  became  conscious  of  the  irre- 
sistible power  of  righteousness  and  of  the  swift  flash 
of  judgment  before  which  all  thrones  set  up  in  oppo- 
4  49 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

sition  to  his  rule  should  fall.  In  the  vividness  of 
this  consciousness  he  beheld  it  as  an  accomplished 
fact :  "And  he  said  unto  them,  I  beheld  Satan  fallen 
as  lightning  from  heaven." 

No  more  striking  instance  of  this  consciousness  of 
Jesus  as  to  the  future  of  his  kingdom  is  recorded 
than  that  which  occurred  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
day  of  his  public  ministry.  Deserted  and  misunder- 
stood by  the  multitude,  the  rulers  plotting  his  death, 
his  own  disciples  timid  and  presently  to  be  scattered 
when  the  Master  should  be  taken,  and  in  the  back- 
ground the  cross,  the  deep  shadow  of  which  had 
long  lain  across  his  path,  his  ministry  seemed  a  fail- 
ure by  all  outward  tokens.  It  was  at  this  moment 
that  there  came  inquiring  for  him  a  company  of 
Greeks.  There  was  something  in  the  circumstance 
that  deeply  moved  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  as  though 
here  he  beheld  the  first  fruits  of  that  final  ingath- 
ering from  "every  tribe  and  tongue  and  people  and 
nation."  It  was  not  the  shadow  of  the  cross,  but  its 
glory,  that  fell  athwart  the  future;  it  was  of  the 
final  harvest  that  should  spring  forth  from  his  death 
that  he  talked.  He  seems  to  have  seen  the  identifica- 
tion of  his  followers  with  him  through  the  ages  in 
sacrificial  love  and  devotion,  thus  carrying  the  life- 
giving  influence  of  divine  love  throughout  the  world. 
Forecasting  the  outcome  of  it  all,  he  said :  "And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  myself." 

Much  likewise  might  be  said  regarding  Jesus's 
consciousness  of  being  himself  a  missionary  or  mes- 
senger of  the  Father  to  the  whole  world.  Numerous 
utterances  of  his  are  in  keeping  with  the  following, 

50 


UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 

as  rendered  by  the  Twentieth  Century  New  Testa- 
ment :  "Just  as  I  am  thy  messenger  to  the  world,  so 
they  are  my  messengers  to  it." 

(2)  Deliberate  statements  of  Jesus  as  to  the  fu- 
ture of  his  kingdom. 

The  same  all-comprehensive  end  is  distinctly  sug- 
gested by  Jesus  in  his  more  deliberate  or  didactic 
utterances.  First,  there  are  those  in  which  he  teach- 
es by  figure  the  nature  and  outcome  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  This,  in  one  way  or  another,  is  repeatedly 
likened  unto  the  thing  that  grows.  Two  of  the  para- 
bles are  especially  significant  in  this  connection. 
"The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  he  said,  "is  like  unto  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,  which  a  man  took,  and  sowed 
in  his  field ;  which  indeed  is  less  than  all  seeds ;  but 
when  it  is  grown,  it  is  greater  than  the  herbs,  and 
becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  heaven 
come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof."  This  para- 
ble suggests  a  growth  exceeding  all  other  growths  of 
comparable  nature.  "Another  parable  spake  he  unto 
them:  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven, 
which  a  woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  till  it  was  all  leavened."  Here  we  have  indi- 
cated not  only  the  end,  but  the  process  by  which  the 
end  is  to  be  reached — that  of  the  impartation  of  life, 
the  spreading  of  life  from  life,  and  the  final  victory 
of  the  living  principle  over  the  elements  of  the  world 
into  which  it  is  cast. 

Lest  the  very  character  of  the  message  they  bore 
and  all  the  suggestions  of  the  Master  as  to  the  out- 
come of  his  kingdom  should  not  sufiSce  to  make  his 
purpose  clear  to  his  disciples,  Jesus  gave  them  spe- 
cific and  unequivocal  instructions  under  such  cir- 

51 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

cumstances  as  must  forever  impress  upon  them  the 
awful  significance  of  the  charge  he  gave  them  and 
the  unescapable  responsibility  under  which  they  were 
thus  placed:  ^'And  Jesus  came  to  them  and  spake 
unto  them,  saying,  All  authority  hath  been  given 
unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you :  and  lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

These  words,  it  has  frequently  been  said,  have  the 
force  of  marching  orders  from  the  Commander  in 
Chief.  But  this  is  too  suggestive  of  mere  military 
authority.  They  have  in  them  the  compulsion  of 
love.  They  are  as  the  last  will  and  testament  of  One 
whose  desire  is  dearer  to  us  than  life  itself.  And 
jet  they  are  more  than  this,  for  Jesus  lives  to  be 
with  his  followers  and  to  approve  the  obedience  of 
their  devotion.  Truly  obedience  here  grows  into 
identification  with  Jesus  Christ  in  that  for  which 
his  life  and  death  and  resurrection  stand.  For  his 
disciples  are  but  the  living  members  of  his  kingdom, 
and  through  these  he  seeks  a  kingdom  and  a  crown 
in  the  Christianization  of  the  world.^ 

"The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war, 
A  kingly  crown  to  gain: 
His  blood-red  banner  streams  afar; 
Who  follows  in  his  train?" 


^Luke  xxiv.  44-53;  Mark  xvi.  15-18;  Acts  1.  6-9;  Matthew 
xi.  27;  Luke  x.  22;  John  xvi.  33,  xvii.  18-23. 

52 


UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 

3.  This  Conception  of  the  Gospel  Is  Confirmed  by  the 

Missionary  Activity  and  Outlook  of  the 

Apostolic  Church 

The  order  of  apostolic  activity  had  been  forecast 
in  the  words :  "Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in  Je- 
rusalem, and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."  Pentecost  was 
followed  by  the  passionate  and  fearless  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  in  Jerusalem  and  throughout  the  sur- 
rounding region.  Philip  is  seen  on  his  way  to  Gaza 
and  at  Azotus  and  Csesarea.  Peter  goes  to  Lydda, 
to  Joppa,  and  also  to  Caesarea,  where  he  preaches  to 
the  household  of  the  Eoman  centurion.  The  Church 
was  speedily  established  throughout  Judea,  Gali- 
lee, and  Samaria,  and  even  in  the  ancient  Syrian 
city  of  Damascus.  Then,  "they  therefore  that  were 
scattered  abroad  upon  the  tribulation  that  arose 
about  Stephen  traveled  as  far  as  Phoenicia,  and  Cy- 
prus, and  Antioch."  Here  "a  great  number  that  be- 
lieved turned  unto  the  Lord,  .  .  .  and  the  report 
concerning  them  came  to  the  ears  of  the  Church 
which  was  in  Jerusalem."  In  response  Barnabas  is 
sent  forth  to  minister  to  them.  Later  Barnabas 
brings  Saul  from  Tarsus  to  his  aid.  And  here  at  the 
Syrian  capital,  the  third  city  of  the  Eoman  Empire, 
where  the  disciples  were  first  called  Christians,  was 
established  a  new  center  from  which  the  gospel  was 
to  radiate.  It  was  from  this  city  that  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas went  forth  on  the  first  of  those  journeys  re- 
corded by  Luke  in  the  book  of  Acts  to  plant  the 
Church  in  Asia  and  in  Europe.  At  the  same  time 
the  gospel  was  being  preached  by  the  other  apostles. 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

by  humble  disciples,  and  by  new  converts  in  many 
and  widely  separated  parts  of  the  empire.  There 
was  a  contagion  of  enthusiasm  and  of  spiritual  pow- 
er in  the  hearts  of  these  early  proclaimers  of  the 
Christian  truth  that  carried  this  new  faith  irresist- 
ibly onward.  Persecution,  like  wind  on  forest  fires, 
swept  it  but  the  more  swiftly  forward.  Within  the 
lifetime  of  the  first  disciples  little  Christian  commu- 
nities were  established  along  the  shores  of  the  Med- 
iterranean and  in  many  of  the  cities  of  the  empire. 

But  our  task  is  not  so  much  to  recount  the  marvel- 
ous growth  of  the  Christian  religion  in  these  early 
years  as  to  show  the  conception  which  the  apostles 
had  of  their  mission.  After  but  momentary  hesita- 
tion in  surmounting  old  prejudices  and  Jewish  ex- 
clusiveness,  the  first  disciples  entered  upon  the 
world-wide  and  unfettered  mission  of  their  Master. 
And,  more  than  they  all,  Paul  the  apostle  saw  and 
gave  utterance  to  the  universal  nature  and  destiny 
of  the  gospel.  He  proclaimed  it  ^'the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth,  to  the 
Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek."  So  that  these 
"are  no  more  strangers  and  sojourners,  but  .  .  . 
fellow  citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household 
of  God.''  Charged  with  the  ministry  of  this  univer- 
sal religion,  Paul  regarded  himself  as  "debtor  both 
to  Greeks  and  to  barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and  to 
the  foolish.'' 

The  significance  of  these  utterances  of  Paul  is 
that  in  them  we  have  not  alone  Paul's  interpretation 
of  the  gosp>el  as  the  message  of  salvation  designed 
for  all  men,  but  the  interpretation  that  prevailed  in 
the  early  Church.    The  chief  business  of  the  Church 

54 


UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 

was  conceived  to  be  to  spread  abroad  the  gospel  ev- 
erywhere and  to  nourish  and  train  the  members  of 
the  new  Christian  communities.  The  apostolic  inter- 
pretation of  the  gospel  as  universal  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  mission  to  all  people  passed  to  the 
early  Church  and  became  the  inspiring  motive  of 
the  immediate  successors  of  the  apostles. 

4.  The  Continuity  of  the  Missionary  Ideal 

With  the  freshness  and  vigor  of  divine  youth  Chris- 
tianity made  its  way  in  the  world.  Weak  in  all 
outward  respects,  it  had  that  matchless  strength 
which  comes  from  newness  of  life.  Hence  we  find 
it  growing  in  spite  of  every  obstacle,  establishing 
its  new  creation  on  the  decaying  empire  of  heathen- 
ism. The  generation  succeeding  the  apostles  had 
hardly  passed  away  before  Christian  apologists 
could  appeal  to  the  world-wide  extension  of  Chris- 
tianity as  a  token  of  its  divine  origin.  ^'There  is  not 
one  single  race  of  men,"  said  Justin  Martyr  about 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  "whether  barba- 
rians or  Greeks,  or  whatever  they  may  be  called,  no- 
mads or  vagrants  or  herdsmen  living  in  tents,  among 
whom  prayers  and  giving  of  thanks  are  not  offered 
through  the  name  of  the  crucified  Jesus."  ^ 

Nowhere  in  history  are  the  power  and  purpose  of 
Jesus  more  evident  than  in  the  conflict  of  Christian- 
ity with  the  paganism  of  the  Koman  Empire.  He 
was  at  the  head  of  an  invading  army,  and  the  invin- 
cible empire  for  the  first  time  yielded  to  the  invader. 
By  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  Christianity 
had  won  its  way  to  influence  and  power  in  the  em- 

^"The  Early  Church,"  by  Henry  C.  Sheldon,  pp.  129, 
130. 

55 


PEOGEAM  OF  THE  CHEISTIAN  EELIGION 

pire,  and  in  A.D.  313  religious  liberty  was  granted 
by  the  Emperor  Constantine  in  his  famous  Edict  of 
Toleration. 

This  event  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  Christianity.  The  sifting  effect  of  per- 
secution was  for  the  time  no  longer  operative,  while 
many  causes  combined  to  bring  into  the  Christian 
Church  those  who  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  true 
meaning  of  the  Christian  religion.  Controversial, 
ecclesiastical,  and  political  matters  begin  to  over- 
shadow the  spiritual,  until  sometimes  one  has  great 
diflSculty  in  discovering  the  religion  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the  alien  influ- 
ences that  had  made  their  way  into  the  Church  and 
in  part  also  to  the  fact  that  historians  have  chosen 
to  narrate  the  development  of  Church  organization 
and  of  creeds  and  ritualism  rather  than  to  trace  the 
less  conspicuous  but  deep-flowing  currents  of  life 
that  have  never  failed,  even  during  the  most  troubred 
or  unspiritual  periods  of  the  Christian  Church.  Be- 
neath and  at  the  heart  of  the  Christian  movement 
that  outwardly  was  thought  of  as  the  Church,  witH 
its  formal  organization,  doctrine,  and  equipment,  the 
living  stream  of  the  Christian  religion,  pure  as  it 
springs  perennially  from  its  source  in  Jesus  Christ, 
has  flowed  on,  refreshing  and  sweetening  the  lives  of 
God's  children  throughout  the  ages.  Thus  the  liv- 
ing present  of  the  kingdom  has  grown  out  of  the  liv- 
ing past.  From  the  apostolic  age  to  the  era  of  mis- 
sionary expansion,  in  spite  of  many  alien  influences 
within  the  Church — influences  that  have  sometimes 
dominated  even  its  ecclesiastical  councils — the  pur- 
pose of  Jesus  and  his  last  command  to  his  followers 

56 


UNTO  ALL  THE  NATIONS 

have  never  wholly  been  lost  sight  of.  The  mission- 
ary, the  preacher,  the  teacher  of  the  gospel,  the  true 
follower  of  Jesus  to-day  is  the  spiritual  descendant 
and  successor  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles  and  of  the 
faithful  representatives  of  the  kingdom  in  all  the 
Christian  countries. 

5.  To-Day  It  Is  Ours  to  Proclaim  the  Same  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom 

Pur  commission  is  still  ^^unto  all  the  nations." 
There  are  to-day  more  people  without  the  gospel  who 
are  accessible  and  open  to  receive  it  than  in  the  timie 
of  the  apostles  or  in  any  century  from  then  until 
now.  Moreover,  to-day  the  Christian  people  have  be- 
hind them  nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  experi- 
ence and  of  Christian  achievement  as  unanswerable 
evidence  and  as  witness  to  the  power  of  Christ  in  the 
world.  At  the  same  time  every  resource  necessary 
in  men  and  in  money,  in  order  to  carry  the  gospel 
speedily  to  all  people,  is  now  abundantly  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  bear  the  name  of  Christian.  Can 
any  reason  be  assigned  why  the  Church  should  not 
now  plan  and  commit  itself  with  definiteness  and 
confidence  to  the  planting  of  the  Christian  religion 
in  every  part  of  the  earth  ? 

Thought  Questions 

1.  "What  would  you  say  of  one  who  talks  much  of  his 
own  religious  experience,  but  gives  no  evidence  of  concern 
that  others  be  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ? 

2.  Give  three  reasons  why  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ 
must  have  a  program  of  world  evangelism. 

3.  What  does  it  mean  to  "seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God"? 

57 


CHAPTER  IV 
MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"Report  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference,"  Vol.  I. 
DeForrest,  "The  Evolution  of  a  Missionary." 
Carver,  "Missions  and  Modern  Thought." 
Brown,  Arthur  J.,  "The  Foreign  Missionary." 
Brown,  Arthur  J.,  "Rising  Churches  in  Non-Christian 
Lands." 


CHAPTER  IV 
MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 

The  missionary  may  be  a  Paul,  the  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles ;  an  Ulfilas,  the  apostle  to  the  Goths ;  a  Cyril 
and  a  Methodius,  messengers  from  Thessalonica  to 
the  Slavs;  an  Augustine  to  Britain;  a  St.  Patrick 
to  Ireland;  a  Willibrord  to  Holland;  an  Ansgar  to 
the  Danes;  a  Boniface  to  Germany;  a  Carey  to  In- 
dia ;  a  Morrison  to  China ;  a  Livingstone  to  Africa ; 
a  Paton  to  the  New  Hebrides.  It  is  the  same.  The 
gospel  has  been  borne  to  every  new  center  where  it 
has  been  implanted  by  those  who  have  carried  Christ 
in  their  hearts  and  who  have  gone  with  the  same 
spirit  that  prompted  Jesus  himself  to  be  the  mes- 
senger of  the  Father  to  earth  and  that  led  the  Chris- 
tians of  New  Testament  times  to  go  everywhere 
preaching  Christ. 

The  truth  lives  in  the  hearts  of  men.  The  Chris- 
tian religion  must  be  propagated  by  the  Christian 
people.  To  understand  the  later  developments  of 
Christianity  among  any  people,  we  must  see  the 
Christian  religion  at  work  from  its  first  entrance 
into  the  community.  Let  us,  then,  accompany  the 
missionary  to  the  new  field  and  seek  to  gain  some 
idea  of  the  methods  and  nature  of  his  work  and  of 
the  significance  of  the  stage  of  beginnings  in  rela- 
tion to  other  stages  that  are  to  follow. 

The  American  missionary  to  the  Orient  goes  forth 
not  to  carry  Western  civilization,  not  to  teach  West- 
ern  theology,   not  to   plant  the  Western   Church, 

61 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

though  incidentally  some  or  all  of  these  things  he 
may  do.  He  goes  to  carry  Christ,  to  live  Christ. 
He  goes  to  be  the  truth,  to  impart  from  a  heart  of 
Christlike  love  to  other  hearts  the  living,  growing 
principle  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  a  principle 
of  divine  life  which  is  to  regenerate  human  hearts 
and  lives  and  to  transform  human  desires  that  he 
bears. 

1.  The  Nature  of  the  Missionary's  First  Work 

The  first  work  of  the  missionary  is  essentially  the 
same  everywhere,  though  methods  may  vary.  His 
work  is  to  find  some  medium  through  which  he  may 
make  Christ  known  to  those  absolutely  ignorant  of 
him.  The  chief  and  most  effective  medium  must  al- 
ways be  that  of  his  own  personality.  This  necessi- 
tates his  coming  close  to  the  people.  He  must  es- 
tablish the  most  intimate  and  sympathetic  relations 
with  them.  He  must  win  their  friendship  and  confi- 
dence. He  must  study  the  people  themselves,  their 
language,  customs,  and  modes  of  thought.  He  must 
literally  give  himself  to  the  people  in  such  wise  that 
the  people  shall  be  able  to  interpret  the  gospel 
through  him. 

(1)  Evangelism, 

What  the  missionary  is  and  what  he  says  must 
necessarily  be  felt  to  be  counterparts  of  one  mes- 
sage, each  illuminating  the  other.  Missionary  evan- 
gelism, or  the  spoken  word,  the  simple  telling  of  the 
gospel  story,  has  naturally  been  the  method  more 
widely  used,  especially  in  the  early  stage  of  the  mis- 
sionary's work.  But  evangelism  belongs  to  the  first 
stage  of  missions  and  to  every  stage  of  kingdom 

62 


MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 

growth.  It  indeed  comes  to  embrace  all  methods 
that  have  to  do  with  teaching  and  preaching  the 
message  of  the  Christian  religion  and  every  effort  to 
persuade  people  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour 
and  to  follow  him  as  Lord  of  life.  The  earliest  form 
of  missionary  evangelism  may  be  preaching  to  the 
promiscuous  and  curious  crowds  that  gather  about 
the  foreigner  or,  probably  more  frequently  and  cer- 
tainly more  effectively,  hand-to-hand  personal  work 
with  individuals.  But  the  aim  is  the  same — to  bring 
men  to  know  and  to  love  Jesus  Christ.  However, 
evangelism  cannot  be  set  off  by  any  distinct  line  of 
demarcation  from  other  forms  of  missionary  work  at 
this  stage.    It  rather  interpenetrates  all  forms. 

(2)  Medical  work. 

Medical  work  has  frequently  been  the  means  of 
opening  up  a  new  country  or  community  to  the  gos- 
pel. It  was  said  of  Peter  Parker  that  he  opened 
China  to  Christianity  "at  the  point  of  a  lancet." 
But  a  like  service  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  has 
been  rendered  by  hundreds  of  physicians  in  many 
parts  of  China,  India,  and  of  the  Moslem  world, 
and,  indeed,  in  practically  all  of  the  mission  fields. 
By  ministering  to  the  suffering  bodies  of  the  people 
the  Christian  physician  has  revealed  the  spirit  of  his 
Master,  often  before  he  has  known  the  language  of 
the  sufferers.  Love  has  here  spoken  in  the  universal 
language  of  the  heart  that  cannot  be  misunderstood. 
Accordingly,  the  Christian  physician  has  not  only 
prepared  the  way  for  the  evangelist,  but  has  himself 
preached  the  gospel  most  effectively,  both  by  his 
sympathetic  ministrations  and  by  revealing  the  in- 
spiration of  his  own  work  in  the  story  of  the  Great 

63 


PKOGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Physician.  Here  he  has  found  a  unique  opportuni- 
ty to  preach  Christ,  the  Saviour  from  sin,  who  alone 
can  heal  the  heart  and  purify  the  life. 

Medical  missions,  regarded  purely  as  a  means  of 
alleviating  physical  suffering,  has  been  an  incalcula- 
ble blessing  to  non-Christian  lands  that  many  times 
outweighs  every  investment  in  this  form  of  human 
ministration.  Any  consideration  of  the  suffering 
that  has  been  relieved  or  alleviated  makes  the  work 
of  medical  missions,  even  as  a  humanitarian  and 
scientific  achievement,  a  glorious  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  race.  But  the  larger  significance  of  this 
truly  Christlike  service  is  to  be  found  alone  in  the 
inspiring  motive  of  the  Christian  physician  and  in 
the  more  enduring  results  wrought  out  by  the  new 
spirit  and  power  of  Christ,  the  Physician  of  both 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  men. 

(3)  Early  translations  and  tract  distribution. 

Next  to  the  personal  touch  and  the  spoken  word 
is  the  written  word.  One  of  the  earliest  labors  of 
the  first  missionaries,  after  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  language,  is  to  translate  the  Bible,  or  por- 
tions of  it,  into  the  tongue  of  the  people.  Christian 
hymns  and  simple  gospel  tracts  are  likewise  made 
available,  and  some  of  these  have  a  wide  circulation. 
The  Bible  has  been  translated  into  over  five  hundred 
languages  and  dialects,  nearly  all  of  which  has  been 
done  by  the  Christian  missionary.  Copies  of  the 
Gospels  and  leaflets  intended  to  arouse  interest  are 
distributed  by  the  missionaries  on  their  preaching 
tours,  sometimes  in  regions  far  beyond  the  perma- 
nent missionary  settlement.  These  are  likewise  dis- 
tributed by  the  physician  to  those  who  come  for 

64 


MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 

treatment.  When  the  patients  are  sent  back  to 
their  homes  from  the  hospital,  they  go  not  only  with 
restored  bodies,  but  with  the  Gospel  in  their  own 
tongue  wherein  they  were  born.  By  these  and  oth- 
er means,  in  wide  sections  of  the  country,  in  advance 
of  the  missionary's  coming,  an  interest  in  Christian- 
ity is  often  created  and  the  way  prepared  for  the 
visit  of  the  gospel  preacher.  Many  interesting  sto- 
ries are  told  of  little  groups,  into  whose  hands  some 
copy  of  the  Gospel  had  fallen,  gathered  to  read  the 
Word  of  God  before  ever  having  seen  the  face  of  the 
missionary.  In  some  rare  cases  they  have  been 
known  already  to  have  accepted  Jesus  as  Saviour 
while  they  waited  for  the  messenger  of  Christ  to 
come  and  tell  them  more  fully  of  the  Christian  way. 
The  written  Word  is  essential  not  only  as  a  forerun- 
ner to  prepare  the  way  of  the  missionary,  but  also, 
and  more  important,  as  supplying  material  for  defi- 
nite study  on  the  part  of  those  who  become  interest- 
ed in  Christianity  and  for  the  further  and  fuller  in- 
struction of  those  who  are  led  to  accept  Jesus  as 
their  Saviour. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  frequently  there  is  no 
written  language  and  that  the  speech  of  the  people 
must  be  reduced  to  written  form  for  the  first  time 
in  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  the  complex  and  dif- 
ficult nature  of  the  task  appears.  Even  where  there 
is  already  a  written  language  the  language  is  nearly 
always  defective  in  words  adapted  to  the  conveying 
of  Christian  ideas.  This  makes  it  necessary  to  purge 
native  terms  and  expressions  of  their  old  associa- 
tions and  to  give  a  new  and  purified  meaning  to  the 
language  itself.  Hence  the  relation  of  the  personal 
5  65 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  the  literary,  the  necessity  for  living  the  truth. 
The  characteristic  and  essential  things  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  must  wait  on  the  missionary  himself 
for  interpretation  in  his  own  life,  in  his  home,  in 
all  his  contact  with  the  people.  The  ideas  of  purity, 
marital  fidelity,  of  justice,  of  honesty,  of  love  and 
sympathy,  of  Christlikeness  will  be  understood  first 
and  most  clearly  as  they  are  seen  in  the  true  repre- 
sentatives of  Christ  Jesus.  The  word  on  the  writ- 
ten page,  once  the  interpretation  has  been  seen  in 
life  and  become  actual  in  flesh  and  blood,  will  glow 
with  a  new  meaning.  But  in  the  end,  by  living  the 
truth,  by  creating  a  medium  for  the  propagation  of 
Christian  ideas,  the  way  is  prepared  for  the  wider 
development  of  a  Christian  literature  in  the  native 
tongue  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  factors  in  leav- 
ening whole  nations  and  peoples. 

Personal  evangelism,  medical  work,  and  tract  dis- 
tribution, together  with  some  form  of  industrial 
work,  have  constituted  the  usual  methods  of  first 
approach  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  missionaiy 
to  non-Christian  peoples.  The  aim  has  been,  first  of 
all,  to  open  the  way  to  the  making  of  the  first  con- 
verts and  to  the  planting  of  the  Christian  Church 
in  the  new  field.  The  preparatory  work  leading  up 
to  success  in  this  effort  has  often  been  long  and 
sometimes  discouraging.  Morrison  worked  seven 
years  in  China  and  Carey  seven  in  India  before  hav- 
ing the  first  convert.  James  Gilmore  labored  faith- 
fully among  the  people  of  Mongolia  for  twenty-one 
years  and,  sad  at  heart,  died,  having  seen  as  the 
fruit  of  his  labor  but  a  single  conversion. 

66 


MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 

2.  Creating  an  Atmosphere 

From  the  very  beginning  we  must  take  account  of 
the  twofold  result  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the 
non-Christian  community :  First,  the  winning  of  ear- 
ly converts  and  the  organization  of  the  little  Chris- 
tian group;  second,  the  general  awakening  of  inter- 
est in  Christianity  and  its  increasing  favor  with  the 
people.  The  reason  for  the  seeming  failure  of  some 
of  the  first  missionaries  is  more  clearly  understood 
in  the  light  of  later  experience  and  a  fuller  knowl- 
edge of  the  educational  preparation  that  must  un- 
derlie the  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ.  A  prelimi- 
nary knowledge  of  Christ  is  requisite  to  faith  in 
him,  and  the  missionary  must  needs  live  among  the 
people  to  give  them  this  knowledge.  The  real  suc- 
cess of  the  jjioneer  apostles  has  been  in  their  media- 
tion of  the  truth  to  the  people  to  whom  they  have 
gone  and  in  the  larger  and  more  favorable  oppor- 
tunity created  by  their  work  for  others  who  were 
to  follow  them. 

(1)  Educational  and  literary  work. 

A  further  word  must  be  said  about  the  creation 
and  circulation  of  a  native  Christian  literature  and 
the  development  of  a  system  of  Christian  education. 
In  what  may  be  called  the  second  stage,  the  educa- 
tional and  literary  forms  of  missionary  work  be- 
come tremendous  factors  in  the  propagation  of 
Christianity.  While  each  has  its  beginnings  in  the 
earlier  stage  of  missions,  the  literary  and  educa- 
tional developments  of  missions  are  more  properly 
identified  with  the  later  stages.  In  this  broader 
and  more  far-reaching  work  of  creating  an  atmos- 
phere in  a  community  out  of  which  larger  numbers 

67 


PROGKAM  OF  THE  CHKISTIAN  RELIGION 

are  to  be  gathered  into  the  Churcli  and  a  fuller  un- 
derstanding is  to  be  had  of  the  kingdom,  the  Chris- 
tian school  has  played  a  large  part.  It  is  by  this 
means  that  the  first  converts  and  those  who  have  be- 
come favorably  inclined  to  Christianity  are  brought 
under  the  continuous  influence  of  the  Christian 
teacher  and  have  opportunity  to  study  the  deeper 
and  fuller  meaning  of  the  Christian  religion.  Out 
of  these  schools,  naturally,  have  come  native  preach- 
ers and  teachers  and  exponents  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion to  their  own  people — ^leaders  in  the  new  Chris- 
tian community  and  voices  heard  by  the  whole  peo- 
ple. To  this  later  development  of  missions  also  be- 
longs the  creation  of  a  rich  and  varied  Christian 
literature.  This  in  time  becomes  an  incalculable  in- 
fluence in  reaching  all  the  people  and  in  lifting  the 
entire  moral  level  of  communities  and  nations. 

(2)  The  spread  of  Christian  ideas. 

All  forms  of  Christian  work  will  continue  to  de- 
velop on  ever-broadening  lines.  Evangelism  will  be 
greatly  extended ;  Christian  literature  will  be  wide- 
ly circulated.  The  Bible  and  the  Christian  religion 
will  become  the  subject  of  widespread  conversation 
and  discussion  and  sometimes  the  object  of  bitter 
opposition  and  even  of  imitation  by  the  leaders  of 
other  religions.  Thus  by  every  means  the  gospel  is 
sounded  abroad,  and  the  way  of  the  Lord  is  pre- 
pared before  him.  Erelong  the  fermenting  leaven  of 
the  new  truth  begins  to  stir  whole  communities  and 
sections  of  the  country.  Old  religious  ideas  and  cus- 
toms are  brought  into  unfavorable  contrast  with 
Christian  teachings.  The  lives  of  the  missionaries 
and  likewise  of  the  native  Christians  stand  in  unan- 

68 


MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 

swerable  proof  of  the  power  and  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  imperfections  and  inadequacy  of 
other  faiths  more  and  more  clearly  appear,  while 
the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  is  commending 
itself  to  an  increasing  number  of  earnest  souls.  Je- 
sus is  lifted  up,  and  as  men  and  women  are  forced 
to  look  upon  him  and  become  more  and  more  con- 
scious of  their  need  of  a  Saviour  from  sin  they  are 
drawn  unto  Him  who  alone  is  the  Saviour  of  the 
world. 

3.  The  Church  Planted  and  the  Christian  Community 
Established  in  Many  Centers 

It  is  now  a  little  more  than  a  century  since  the 
beginnings  of  the  modem  missionary  movement. 
The  result  of  the  small  and  difficult  beginnings  in 
many  lands  and  of  the  faithful  work  for  a  hundred 
years  of  the  devoted  apostles  and  teachers  of  the 
Christian  message  is  that  many  thousands  of  con- 
verts have  been  won,  great  hospitals  and  schools  of 
all  grades  have  been  founded,  printing  presses  have 
been  set  up,  a  Christian  literature  has  been  created, 
and  the  Christian  Church  has  been  fully  organized 
in  many  centers  of  the  non-Christian  world. 

This  means  that  the  Christian  community  has  be- 
come established  in  these  centers  as  a  positive  and 
aggressive  factor  in  winning  men  to  Christ  and  in 
transforming  the  whole  life  and  character  of  socie- 
ty. It  means,  in  addition  to  the  fact  of  the  Chris- 
tian community  itself,  that  the  entire  atmosphere 
has  been  permeated  with  more  or  less  of  the  Chris- 
tian truth  and  consciousness.  Instead  of  having  to 
face  indifference  or  open  hostility,  Christianity  has 

69 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

attained  in  many  parts  of  the  non-Christian  world  a 
respected  and  influential  position.  Large  numbers 
are  beginning  to  inquire  about  the  Christian  reli- 
gion and  even  to  study  the  Bible.  Some  are  doing 
this  in  order  to  find  out  the  truth,  some  in  the  effort 
to  refute  Christianity  and  to  buttress  their  old  and 
tottering  faiths.  But  in  any  case  a  vast  "penum- 
bra," as  Dr.  DeForrest  called  it,  has  been  created, 
an  atmospheric  condition  extending  far  beyond  the 
immediate  Christian  membership  and  constituting 
the  necessary  preparation  for  the  great  evangelistic 
campaigns  that  have  been  productive  of  such  large 
results  in  recent  years  in  Japan,  China,  India,  Ko- 
rea, Africa,  and,  in  fact,  wherever  the  gospel  has 
been  brought  to  bear  upon  a  people  long  enough  to 
make  possible  these  large  ingatherings. 

4.  The  Unfinished  Task 

The  task  of  missionary  extension  is  still,  however, 
far  from  being  accomplished.  There  are  large  areas 
in  China,  Tibet,  Persia,  India,  and  Africa  where  the 
name  of  Jesus  has  not  yet  been  so  much  as  named. 
Furthermore,  much  of  the  missionaiy  work  in  the 
world  is  still  in  the  early  stages  and  will  for  a  time 
necessarily  show  comparatively  small  results.  So 
it  is  true,  after  all  that  has  been  done,  that  the  great 
majority  of  mankind  knows  nothing  of  Jesus,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world. 

The  unfinished  task,  or  the  missionary  program  of 
the  Christian  religion  and  of  those  who  are  its  trus- 
tees, may  be  briefiy  summarized  as  follows : 

(1)  To  carry  the  gospel  into  every  non-Christian 
center  or  community  in  the  world  as  speedily  as 

70 


MISSIONARY  BEGINNINGS 

possible;  to  see  that  the  Christian  Church  is  plant- 
ed and  that  the  kingdom  of  God  begins  to  grow 
among  all  the  peoples  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 

(2)  To  nourish  and  guide  the  young  Christian 
Churches  and  communities  until  they  shall  have  be- 
come strong  and  aggressive  and  sufficiently  organ- 
ized and  independent  to  assume  responsibility  for 
the  evangelization  of  their  surrounding  territory, 

(3)  To  expand  the  program  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  these  lands  until  it  shall  become  identical 
with  the  program  of  the  Church  as  a  whole  in  the 
evangelization  and  the  Christianization  of  the  world. 

Thought  Questions 

1.  How  "would  you  measure  tlie  success  of  the  life  work 
of  the  first  missionary  to  a  non-Christian  people? 

2.  What  is  the  most  important  qualification  of  a  Chris- 
tian missionary? 

3.  Explain  the  seeming  fruitlessness  of  the  gospel  dur- 
ing the  stage  of  missionary  beginnings  in  a  new  field. 

4.  What  special  preparation  among  the  Jews  and  prose- 
lytes had  there  been  for  the  preaching  of  the  apostles 
which  made  immediate  fruitage  possible,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  household  of  Cornelius? 

71 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMU- 
NITY AND  ITS  IMPACT  ON  ITS  NON- 
CHRISTIAN  ENVIRONMENT 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Capen,  "Social  Progress  in  Mission  Lands.** 
Barton,  "Human  Progress  through  Missions." 
DeForrest,  "The  Evolution  of  a  Missionary." 
Dennis,  "The  Modern  Call  of  Missions." 
"Report  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference,"  Vol.  III. 
Faunce,  "The  Social  Aspects  of  Foreign  Missions." 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMU- 
NITY AND  ITS  IMPACT  ON  ITS  NON- 
CHRISTIAN  ENVIRONMENT 

1.  The  Growth  of  the  Christian  Community 

With  the  establishment  of  the  Christian  commu- 
nity the  kingdom  of  God  becomes  rooted  in  the  new 
soil — ^the  kingdom  imperfect  and  incomplete,  yet  the 
kingdom  become  indigenous  and  growing,  the  king- 
dom penetrating,  quickening,  and  transforming  the 
world. 

It  is  of  this  transforming  process  that  we  must 
now  speak;  of  the  silent  forces  that  re-create,  that 
are  changing  and  will  change  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  into  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord.  We  shall  bear 
in  mind  that  the  kingdom  of  God  roots  in  the  heart, 
in  the  personal  life ;  but  the  branches  thereof  spread 
abroad  and  bear  fruit  in  human  society  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  nations. 

At  first  the  growing  Christian  community  is  like 
an  oasis  in  the  desert.  It  is  surrounded  by  an  un- 
sympathetic world.  The  entire  order  of  society 
round  about  is  unchristian  in  thought  and  prac- 
tice. It  is  an  order  for  which  the  Christian  commu- 
nity is  as  yet  in  no  sense  responsible.  It  is  a  dark- 
ness that  has  never  been  lighted.  The  Christian 
community,  while  existing  in  this  sort  of  world, 
must  keep  itself  unspotted  from  it.  The  members 
of  the  little  group  are  naturally  driven  in  on  them- 
selves for  companionship  and  for  mutual  help.    This 

75 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

group  constitutes  a  true  society,  based  on  radically 
different  principles  from  those  that  underlie  the  so- 
ciety without.  Yet  by  the  very  conditions  of  its  life 
and  the  processes  of  its  growth  this  Christian  com- 
munity must  undergo  far-reaching  changes  both 
within  itself  and  in  its  relation  to  its  social  envi- 
ronment. These  changes  may  be  described  as  fol- 
lows: 

(1)  CJianges  from  witMn, 

The  character  of  the  Christian  community  will 
advance  with  the  advance  in  character  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  community  and  with  their  increasing  ap- 
prehension of  the  obligations  and  privileges  inherent 
in  a  truly  Christian  brotherhood.  Just  as  the  com- 
plete Christian  character  of  the  individual  comes 
only  as  the  result  of  attainment,  so  the  complete 
Christian  society  must  be  the  outcome  of  develop- 
ment, of  a  growing  apprehension  of  the  truth,  of  the 
experience  of  men  struggling  upward  together 
against  odds,  but  with  the  light  of  hope  on  their 
faces  and  of  divine  love  in  their  hearts. 

(2)  Change  through  influence  of  that  which  is 
without. 

Actually  there  never  has  been  and  never  can  be  a 
Christian  community  wholly  apart  from  the  world. 
Though  not  of  the  world,  in  the  sense  that  they  are 
not  to  be  identified  with  its  unspiritual  life,  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  must  needs  be  in  it  and  must  ac- 
cordingly assume  certain  responsibilities  for  the 
world  in  which  they  live.  Furthermore,  because 
they  live  in  the  world,  it  is  inevitable  that  the  Chris- 
tian community  should  be  affected  by  the  world. 
The  very  language,  customs,  and  institutions  of  the 

76 


GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

world  in  which  Christians  live  and  which  they  can- 
not but  make  use  of  are  full  of  associations  that  are 
unchristian.  Inevitably  they  are  affected  by  the 
backward  pull  of  alien  ideals,  of  an  atmosphere,  and 
of  standards  that  are  opposed  to  all  that  is  Chris- 
tian. But  we  shall  also  discover  that  the  Chris- 
tian community  has  within  itself  the  power  of  ad- 
vancing, of  apprehending  more  and  more  fully  the 
mind  of  Christ,  of  outgrowing  the  unchristian  and 
the  partial  conceptions  of  the  past,  and  of  advanc- 
ing ever  toward  a  more  complete  embodiment  of  the 
law  and  life  of  an  ideal  Christian  brotherhood. 

(3)  The  mutual  interpenetration  of  the  Christian 
community  and  the  outside  world. 

In  any  place  where  the  Christian  religion  is 
spreading  abroad  there  will  not  long  be  any  very 
clear  line  of  demarcation  between  the  Christian  com- 
munity and  those  outside  the  Christian  group.  This 
line  is  somewhat  distinctly  drawn  in  the  early  days 
of  Christianity  among  non-Christian  people.  Par- 
ticularly is  this  true  when  there  is  persecution  and 
when  the  opposition  and  contrast  of  the  Christian 
and  of  the  non-Christian  is  brought  through  conflict 
into  sharp  antithesis.  But  erelong  we  find  many 
who  are  near  the  kingdom,  though  not  positively  of 
it.  We  also  find  many  of  it  who  have  not  advanced 
very  far  within  it.  Much  of  the  light  of  the  king- 
dom we  behold  falling  athwart  the  darkness  outside 
and  softening  its  severity,  while  influences  from  the 
outside  still  cast  their  shadows  across  even  the 
brightest  portions  of  the  Christian  community. 

(4)  The  transjormation  of  the  world  to  he  com- 
plete. 

77 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  ultimate  mission  of  tlie  Christian  religion  is 
to  society  as  a  whole.  The  Christian  community 
cannot  attain  unto  the  perfect  state  by  separating 
itself  from  the  rest  of  the  world  and  leaving  it  to 
pursue  its  own  path  to  ruin.  The  final  goal  is  to  be 
attained  only  by  a  salvation  that  leavens  the  whole 
lump.  "The  nearest  approach  to  the  realization  of 
a  Christian  society  is  to  be  found  where  the  princi- 
ples of  his  [Jesus']  ideal  society  are  most  nearly 
expressed  in  the  institutions  and  life  of  a  people."^ 

2. -The  Impact  of  the  Christian  Community  on  the  Non- 
Christian  World 
The  Christian  religion  is  implanted  in  the  new 
soil  among  a  non-Christian  people.  Here  in  due 
time  it  will  bring  forth  its  own  leaf  and  fruit  as  the 
proper  utterance  of  the  new  soul  of  the  people.  The 
creation  of  a  new  social  and  political  order  must 
come  through  the  creation  of  this  new  soul.  It  will 
come  as  the  outgrowth  and  expression  of  a  new  so- 
cial consciousness,  a  new  conviction  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  look  upon  the  face  of  Jesus  and  gain 
a  new  understanding  of  life  and  the  world.  Mis- 
sionaries have  not  always  anticipated  the  larger  re- 
sults of  their  own  work  in  implanting  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  "The  thought  and  purpose  that  in- 
spired those  who  laid  the  foundation  for  our  mod- 
ern missionary  endeavor  was  that  of  evangelism 
alone,  unmixed  with  any  other  department  of  mis- 
sionary work  and  looking  to  the  saving  of  individ- 
ual souls  from  eternal  loss."^     But  the  kingdom  of 

i"The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus,"  Shailer  Mathews. 
^"Human  Progress  through  Missions,"  Barton. 

78 


GKOWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

God  is  ever  outgrowing  the  partial  understanding  of 
its  interpreters. 

It  is  only  in  later  years  that  a  careful  study  of 
the  progress  of  the  missionary  enterprise  during  two 
generations  of  endeavor  has  begun  to  make  manifest 
the  fact  that  while  the  missionaries  were  building  up 
the  native  Church  and  extending  the  borders  of  that 
Church  widely  throughout  non-Christian  countries, 
they  had  been  at  the  same  time  building  up  a  new 
form  of  society.     .     .     . 

Gradually  we  have  come  to  recognize  that  in  In- 
dia, Turkey,  Africa,  and  China  the  Church  of  Christ 
can  no  more  be  confined  in  its  operation  and  in  the 
manifestation  of  its  life  within  the  four  walls  of  a 
building  or  embodied  alone  in  a  group  of  persons 
than  it  can  in  the  West.  In  fact,  it  has  become  ap- 
parent that  a  group  of  Christian  men  and  women, 
living  in  the  midst  of  a  non-Christian  community, 
become  at  once  conspicuous  to  that  community  and 
exert  an  influence  far  out  of  proportion  to  their 
number,  in  a  variety  of  ways  almost  unknown  in 
what  are  called  Christian  countries. 

It  was  inevitable,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
that  Christianity  planted  in  Eastern  communities 
would  build  churches ;  but,  more  than  that,  it  proved 
to  be  absolutely  essential  that  it  should  build  schools 
and  hospitals  and  asylums;  that  it  should  prepare 
and  distribute  enlightening  and  elevating  literature ; 
that  it  should  stand  as  an  advocate  of  peace,  tem- 
perance, and  fraternal  love;  and  that  it  should  de- 
mand of  its  followers  industry  and  thrift  and  enter- 
prise. In  fact,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  Church, 
planted  within  a  pagan  civilization,  should  produce 
a  new  society  which  upon  first  observation  may  ap- 
pear to  be  quite  separate  and  remote  from  the 
Church  in  which  it  had  its  birth  and  from  which  it 
has  drawn  its  inspiration  and  its  very  life.  In  a 
word,  the  missionaries,  in  setting  out  only  to  plant 

79 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  Church  and  to  gather  into  its  folds  such  as  "were 
being  saved,"  have  sown  in  the  East  the  seed  of  a 
new  society  which  is  revolutionary  in  its  character 
and  resistless  in  its  power. 

It  is  said  of  Dr.  J.  H.  DeForrest  that  "his  first 
purpose  as  a  young  missionary  had  been  to  convert 
a  group  of  Japanese  to  Christianity  and  found  a 
Church  like  that  of  which  he  had  been  pastor  in 
America.  After  he  had  acquired  the  language  and 
had  had  a  few  years  of  experience  in  close  contact 
with  the  people,  he  had  begun  to  realize  that  mis- 
sions were  not  the  isolated  individual  phase  of  hu- 
man activity  that  he  had  once  supposed  them  to  be; 
that  they  were  intimately  related  to  the  political 
condition,  the  economic  and  social  status,  the  tradi- 
tional thought  of  the  whole  nation."^ 

Among  the  most  striking  indications  of  the  im- 
pact of  Christianity  on  its  non-Christian  environ- 
ment are : 

(1)  Overthrow  of  the  caste  system. 

No  more  gigantic  and  immovable  barrier  has  ever 
barred  the  way  to  the  advance  of  the  kingdom  than 
the  caste  system  in  India.  It  seemed  even  to  deny 
the  possibility  of  human  brotherhood,  so  that  it  was 
predicted  that  Christianity  could  never  make  any 
progress  in  India  unless  it  should  recognize  caste. 

A  century  ago  Henry  Martyn  wrote  in  his  diary : 
"If  I  should  see  a  single  high-caste  Hindu  converted 
and  baptized,  I  would  look  upon  it  as  a  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead."  To-day  we  have  witnessed  not 
only  the  conversion  of  Brahmans  to  Christianity, 

^"Tlie  Evolution  of  a  Missionary.'* 
80 


GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

but 'now,  after  a  century  of  missions,  the  Brahmans 
themselves  are  among  the  foremost  in  declaring  that 
caste  is  the  curse  of  India.  "They  openly  tell  the 
people  that  Christianity  is  right  in  its  contention 
that  caste  is  an  evil  and  must  be  abolished.  A  num- 
ber of  native  organizations  have  laid  down  the  prin- 
ciple that  caste  is  a  curse  and  cannot  be  retained. 
So  far  as  a  wide  acceptance  of  the  idea  of  the  broth- 
erhood of  man  is  concerned,  the  battle  has  already 
been  won.  It  yet  remains  to  overcome  deep-seated 
prejudices  and  create  a  new  social  order  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old."* 

The  result  has  been  brought  about  not  by  a  mere 
process  of  abolition,  but  by  the  transforming  power 
of  the  Christian  religion,  by  which  the  lowest  and 
most  hopeless  have  been  re-created  and  elevated.  As 
a  result,  new  conceptions  of  the  worth  of  man  and 
a  new  understanding  of  the  ideal  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man  have  become  inevitable.  "Nothing,"  says 
Dr.  Capen,  "has  made  a  deeper  impression  upon  In- 
dia than  the  utter  revolution  which  Christianity  has 
wrought  in  the  lives  of  the  outcasts  who  have  been 
regarded  by  Hindus  as  hardly  human  and  as  incapa- 
ble of  being  raised  to  anything  approaching  equali- 
ty with  the  caste  people."^  He  cites  the  illustration 
of  a  professor  in  a  Christian  college  who  is  from  the 
humblest  origin  and  yet  has  become  an  educational 
leader  highly  respected  by  the  Brahmans.  Not  long 
ago  one  of  the  men  of  this  exclusive  caste  intrusted 
his  wife  to  the  charge  of  this  Christian  gentleman 

*"Human  Progress  through  Missions,"  Barton,  pp.  56, 
57. 

•"'Social  Progress  In  Mission  Lands,"  Capen,  p.  61. 
6  81 


PROGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

on  a  railway  journey.  An  Indian  gentleman  is  quot- 
ed as  having  said:  "I  am  a  Brahman  of  the  Brah- 
mans  and  belong,  as  you  all  know,  to  the  most  or- 
thodox school;  and  I  am  an  Indian  and  love  my 
country;  and  I  must  confess  that  the  way  in  which 
Christianity  has  raised  the  pariahs  of  Madras  is  be- 
yond all  praise  and  puts  me  to  shame  as  a  Hindu." 

Another  said :  "After  all,  when  it  comes  to  prac- 
tice, Christianity  alone  is  effecting  what  we  nation- 
alists are  crying  out  for — namely,  the  elevation  of 
the  masses."^  The  report  of  the  Commission  on  Ed- 
ucation of  the  Edinburgh  Conference,  from  which 
the  above  quotation  is  taken,  further  says :  "The  fact 
is  that  the  education  and  uplifting  by  Christianity 
of  the  pariahs  and  the  aboriginals  in  the  great  na- 
tive Christian  communities  which  have  been  mainly 
recruited  from  these  classes  is  something  so  strik- 
ing and  on  so  large  a  scale  that  the  most  hostile  ob- 
server of  what  Christianity  has  been  and  done  in 
India  cannot  but  recognize  it."^ 

(2)  Progress  in  the  ideals  of  family  life. 

The  character  of  any  civilization  can  be  judged  by 
the  nature  and  ideals  of  its  home  life.  The  home  is 
at  once  a  result  of  the  dominant  ideals  of  the  people 
and  one  of  the  supreme  factors  in  creating  those 
ideals.  Hence  the  home  is  a  sort  of  barometer  of  civ- 
ilization. At  the  center  of  the  home  is  the  wife  and 
mother.  It  has  been  one  of  the  peculiar  glories  of 
Christianity  that  womanhood  has  been  reverenced, 
that  the  wife  and  mother  has  been  given  a  place  of 

"Report  of  World  Missionary  Conference,  Vol.  III.,  p. 
258. 
Ubid, 

82 


GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

equal  honor  with  the  husband  and  father,  and  that 
the  ideals  of  the  Christian  home  have  been  those  of 
purity,  of  fidelity,  and  of  mutual  respect  and  confi- 
dence between  husband  and  wife.  There  has  been  in 
nominally  Christian  countries  a  gradual  elevation 
of  the  status  of  womanhood  through  the  centuries. 
But  the  transforming  power  of  Christianity  upon 
the  ideals  of  the  home  and  the  status  of  womanhood 
is  most  strikingly  seen  in  a  study  of  the  position  of 
woman  in  the  non-Christian  lands  and  the  rapid 
changes  in  her  position  that  are  there  taking  place 
to-day.  In  Africa  and  in  the  South  Sea  islands  she 
has  been  held  as  a  mere  chattel,  the  property  of  the 
man.  In  India  her  position  has  hardly  been  essen- 
tially better.  The  confession  of  the  Hindu,  "We  all 
believe  in  the  sanctity  of  the  cow  and  in  the  deprav- 
ity of  woman,"  sounds  like  a  jest;  so  that  we  are 
startled  to  find  that  it  represents  the  current  belief 
of  India,  supported  by  all  the  sanctities  of  religion. 
The  slavery  of  the  child  mothers  and  the  cruelty  to 
the  child  widows,  the  practicing  of  suttee,  the  en- 
forced seclusion,  the  ignorance  and  .hopelessness  of 
woman  in  India — all  of  this  fills  out  one  of  the 
blackest  and  most  depressing  pictures  afforded  in 
the  study  of  race  conditions. 

In  China  the  attitude  toward  woman  is  essential- 
ly the  same,  though  in  some  respects  her  condition 
is  better.  Yet  the  very  radical  which  signifies  "wom- 
an'' in  the  Chinese  language  has  become  a  part  of  a 
wide  number  of  disreputable  words.  The  low  status 
of  women  is  thus  wrought  into  the  very  structure  of 
the  language. 

Without  undertaking  to  go  farther  in  stating  the 
83 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

degrading  position  of  woman  in  practically  all  non- 
Christian  countries  and  the  consequent  effect  upon 
the  home  life,  it  may  be  said  that  nowhere  have  non- 
Christian  peoples  come  into  contact  with  Christian- 
ity that  there  has  not  been  an  almost  immediate,  and 
henceforth  a  constant,  tendency  to  elevate  the  po- 
sition of  woman  and  to  establish  the  home  on  new 
and  better  foundations. 

The  mission  schools  have  been  one  of  the  largest 
factors  in  bringing  about  this  change.  These  schools 
have  been  open  to  girls  as  well  as  to  boys,  even 
though  in  the  beginning  it  was  often  necessary  to 
pay  parents  to  permit  their  daughters  to  attend 
school.  In  these  mission  schools,  ranging  from  the 
kindergarten  and  primary  day  schools  to  colleges 
and  professional  schools,  in  all  mission  fields,  there 
are  now  numbered  more  than  three  hundred  thou- 
sand girls  and  women.  Out  of  these  schools  go 
forth  annually  thousands  of  educated  Christian 
women  who  are  to  become  teachers  in  Christian 
schools,  Bible  women,  wives  of  native  Christian 
workers,  and,  in  fact,  leaders  in  every  walk  of  life, 
creating  a  new  ideal  of  womanhood  and  a  new  sta- 
tus for  women. 

But  the  tree  is  best  judged  by  its  fruits,  and  the 
Christian  home  in  the  non-Christian  land,  with  its 
peace  and  purity  and  love,  has  been  one  of  the  silent 
forces  in  condemning  lower  ideals  and  making  way 
for  the  Christian  home  and  its  lofty  ideals.  A  mis- 
sionary in  Japan  is  quoted  as  having  said  that  many 
who  did  not  know  English  had  come  to  understand 
and  use  the  phrase  "Christian  home"  as  representing 
an  ideal  household. 

84 


GKOWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

The  larger  social  revolution  that  is  resulting  from 
all  of  this  is  thus  summarized  by  Dr.  Barton :  "Such 
women  as  Pundita  Ramabai  and  hundreds  of  others 
who  might  be  named  have  come  to  the  front  out  of 
the  old  impossible  conditions,  and  these  in  rapidly 
multiplying  numbers  constitute  a  Christianizing  and 
socially  revolutionizing  force  that  nothing  can  re- 
sist. A  purer  conception  of  home,  of  the  worth  and 
strength  of  womanhood,  and  of  the  needs  of  a  re- 
formed social  order,  finds  in  these  and  in  the  mul- 
titudes they  lead  champions  whose  influence  is  rap- 
idly deepening  and  extending.  A  social  revolution 
is  already  taking  place  among  the  principal  Asiatic 
nations,  which  began  with  the  Christian  education 
of  Oriental  girls,  but  which  has  now  become  of  na- 
tional and  even  international  import,  affecting  near- 
ly all  phases  of  society." 

(3)  AhoUtion  of  inhumanities. 

These  illustrations  are  but  typical  of  the  trans- 
formations that  are  actually  in  process  in  all  the 
mission  fields  as  a  result  of  the  socially  re-creative 
power  of  Christianity.  Other  illustrations  might  be 
cited,  such  as  the  more  or  less  fully  realized  aboli- 
tion of  the  following  inhumanities :  The  practice  of 
burning  widows  at  the  burial  of  their  husbands, 
slavery  and  the  slave  trade,  foot-binding,  child  mar- 
riage, the  opium  traffic,  the  cruelties  of  medical 
practice,  infanticide,  cannibalism.  We  must  remem- 
ber that  it  was  the  missionary  who  first  protested 
against  these  things  and  that  through  the  planting 
of  the  Christian  Church  there  has  grown  up  a  per- 
manent and  increasing  community  that  continues 
and  extends  this  protest  and  puts  to  shame  those 

85 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

who  practice  such  things.  Moreover,  these  Christian 
influences  and  ideals  have  spread  until  it  has  come 
to  pass  that  far  outside  the  Christian  community 
there  are  organizations  standing  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  these  horrors  and  for  the  better  ideals  which 
have  come  through  the  Christian  religion. 

(4)  Constructive  results. 

But  Christianity  does  not  stop  with  the  suppres- 
sion of  vices  and  shocking  inhumanities.  The  Chris- 
tian religion  is  constructive  and  re-creative,  making 
all  things  new.  If  there  were  space,  it  might  be 
shown  that  Christianity  is  transforming  the  educa- 
tional system  wherever  it  has  gone.  This  has  been 
especially  marked  in  Japan,  China,  and  in  certain 
parts  of  India.  In  Africa  the  missionary  is  the  cre- 
ator of  the  written  language  and  the  founder  of  edu- 
cation. Likewise  in  the  field  of  economics  and  in- 
dustry the  ideals  of  Christianity,  representing  hu- 
man worth  and  brotherhood  and  the  care  of  a  com- 
mon Father,  have  been  dynamic  principles  making 
for  social  and  economic  progress  and  stimulating  ev- 
erywhere the  sense  of  social  justice. 

Again,  while  the  missionaries  cannot  be  said  to 
have  fomented  political  disturbances,  since  they 
have  everywhere  been  scrupulous  in  teaching  loyal- 
ty to  government,  nevertheless  the  conceptions  of  hu- 
man worth  and  of  the  right  to  self-realization  that 
are  inherent  in  Christianity  inevitably  culminate 
sooner  or  later  in  a  new  political  consciousness. 
Students  familiar  with  the  struggle  for  political 
freedom  and  human  rights  in  the  West  will  under- 
stand how  the  same  ideals  implanted  in  the  Ori- 
ent must  sooner  or  later  work  out  like  results.    The 

86 


GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

influence  of  Christianity  on  the  political  life  be- 
gan to  be  manifest  in  Japan  more  than  a  third  of  a 
century  ago  and  now  as  a  mighty  current  is  passing 
through  the  ancient  and  populous  countries  of  In- 
dia and  China.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  recent 
revolution  in  China,  culminating  in  the  republic, 
was  led  by  a  Christian,  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  and  that 
the  majority  of  the  leaders  of  this  revolution  are,  by 
their  own  confession,  Christians. 

Back  of  all  these  changes  of  which  we  have  spoken 
is  the  creation  of  a  ^^new  type  of  personality — the 
incorruptible,  public-spirited  Christian  citizen  who 
is  seeking  not  his  own  salvation,  but  the  welfare  of 
others."^  The  Christian  religion,  rooted  in  the 
heart,  re-creating  character  and  ideals  of  life,  is 
changing  every  expression  of  the  individual,  the  so- 
cial, and  the  corporate  life  of  the  peoples  of  non- 
Christian  lands  and  is  preparing  a  new  moral  foun- 
dation for  a  new  social  order. 

Thought  Questions 

1.  By  what  process  is  the  Christian  religion  to  become 
established  in  non-Christian  lands? 

2.  What  present-day  proofs  would  you  give  of  the  divine 
origin  of  the  Christian  religion? 

3.  What  effect  is  social  failure  in  Christian  lands  sure  to 
have  on  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  other  lands? 

^"Social  Progress  in  Mission  Lands,"  p.  172. 

87 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY  AND  THE 
SOCIAL  TASK 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Rauschenbusch,  "Christianizing  the  Social  Order." 

Ward,  Harry  F.,  "Social  Evangelism." 

Peabody,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question." 

Mathews,  "The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order." 

Batten,  "The  Social  Task  of  Christianity." 

Taylor,  "Religion  in  Social  Action." 

Kent,  "The  Social  Teachings  of  the  Prophets  and  Je- 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY  AND  THE 
SOCIAL  TASK 

1.  Responsibility  for  the  Existing  Social  Order 
The  new  Christian  community  begins  its  life  in  a 
world  unchristian  and  beyond  its  power  of  imme- 
diate control.  Any  process  of  social  change  will 
necessarily  be  gradual.  Meanwhile  the  community 
of  Christians  will  find  itself  constantly  confronted 
with  conditions  of  life  that  root  in  the  unchristian 
past.  This  will  in  some  sense  be  true  until  the  final 
goal  of  a  Christianized  society  is  reached.  When, 
therefore,  the  people  who  are  representatives  of  a 
Christian  order  find  themselves  living  in  the  midst 
of  an  order  that  is  a  remnant  or  resultant  of  an  un- 
christian past,  what  are  they  to  do?  Can  the  Chris- 
tian community  continue  to  live  and  groic  in  such  a 
world  and  not  face  directly  its  responsibility  for 
making  the  order  of  the  world  in  which  it  lives  con- 
form to  the  Christian  spirit? 

We  may  expect  the  answer  of  a  group  of  sover- 
eigns to  differ  from  that  of  a  group  of  subjects. 
Manifestly  a  little  company  of  Christian  subjects,  in 
the  midst  of  a  heathen  society  and  under  a  despotic 
government,  would  accomplish  little  but  their  own 
ruin  by  attacking  the  unchristian  in  the  political  and 
social  order  about  them.  Their  duty  for  the  time 
might  well  be  to  confine  themselves  to  building  up 
the  Christian  community  within.  But  what  shall 
be  said  when  that  Christian  community  is  no  longer 

91 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

an  impotent  company  of  subjects,  but  a  powerful 
and  organized  company  of  sovereign  people,  consti- 
tuting the  major  part  of  influence  and  power  in  a 
nation?  Certainly  it  cannot  longer  be  said  of  the 
evils  of  society :  ^'These  are  things  that  have  grown 
up  from  the  world.  We  cannot  affect  them;  there- 
fore let  us  leave  them  alone." 

The  institutions  of  society  are,  in  the  long  run, 
the  expression  of  the  life,  character,  and  will  of  the 
people ;  so  that,  in  so  far  as  these  are  unchristian  in 
their  nature,  they  may  have  come  down  from  an  un- 
christian past.  But  to  continue  these  unchristian 
expressions  of  social  life  must  be  henceforth  to  ac- 
cept responsibility  for  them.  Under  a  popular  form 
of  government  and  with  the  growing  power  of  the 
Christian  community,  the  time  inevitably  comes 
when  the  Christian  people  can  no  more  refrain  from 
facing  their  larger  social  tasks  than  they  can  refuse 
to  observe  the  first  requirement  of  individual  right- 
eousness. 

The  early  Christians  were  not  responsible  because 
the  Roman  emperors  debauched  themselves  and  be- 
cause the  people  followed  their  example.  They  had 
no  power  for  the  time  to  affect  the  conditions  and  in- 
stitutions, political  and  social.  It  was  enough  that 
they  emphasized  the  duty  of  sobriety  among  the 
members  of  the  little  Christian  group.  But  the 
Christian  citizen  of  to-day  who  uses  his  sovereign 
power  to  perpetuate  the  evils  of  intemperance  is 
surely  as  guilty  as  one  who  gives  his  neighbor  drink, 
and  no  amount  of  personal  sobriety  can  one  whit 
lessen  that  guilt. 

Again,  the  graft  of  the  Roman  taxgatherer  was 
92 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

not  only  proverbial,  but,  like  the  system  that  has 
been  prevalent  in  China,  was  one  of  the  parts  in  the 
government  machinery.  The  little  band  of  Chris- 
tians would  have  been  going  far  afield  from  their 
immediate  responsibilities  if  they  had  started  a  cru- 
sade against  the  Roman  system  of  taxation.  Yet  for 
the  Christian  citizen  in  America  complacently  to  al- 
low a  system  of  corruption  and  graft  to  develop  and 
continue  in  public  office  to-day,  when  Christian  pub- 
lic sentiment  is  against  such  practice  and  when 
there  is  strength  enough  in  the  Christian  citizenship 
to  overthrow  it,  is  to  become  in  a  very  real  sense  re- 
sponsible for  the  continuance  of  the  iniquity. 

In  like  manner,  while  the  Christians  of  the  first 
century  undertook  the  relief  of  their  poor  and  gave 
it  a  large  place  in  their  organization,  it  was  mani- 
festly futile  for  them  to  concern  themselves  with  the 
existing  political  and  industrial  order  of  the  time 
that  might  have  been  responsible  for  the  general  con- 
ditions of  poverty  then  prevalent.  Yet  to-day  for 
the  whole  body  of  the  Christian  people  to  content 
themselves  with  administering  charity  to  the  poor  of 
the  Church  and  ignore  the  causes  of  poverty  and 
disease,  in  so  far  as  they  are  discernible  and  in  so 
far  as  they  are  remediable,  is  to  become  guilty  of 
sharing  in  the  social  wrong. 

But  let  us  fix  the  responsibility  where  finally  it 
must  rest.  The  ultimate  responsibility  for  the  social 
order  is  with  the  Christian  people.  This  is  true  be- 
cause they  alone  are  in  possession  of  a  social  and 
moral  dynamic  that  is  able  to  change  that  which  is 
wrong.  Responsibility  must  rest  with  those  who 
have  the  light.    It  is  the  duty  of  the  Christian  peo- 

93 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

pie  to  turn  the  light  of  the  message  aud  spirit  of 
Jesus  upon  every  problem  of  society  and  to  interpret 
these  problems  in  the  light  of  that  truth  and  spirit. 
And  it  is  their  duty,  as  responsible  sovereign  mem- 
bers of  society,  to  throw  their  influence  and  power 
on  the  side  of  a  better  order. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  broad  conception  of  morali- 
ty and  of  personal  responsibility,  one  that  grows  out 
of  a  fundamental  apprehension  of  the  relation  of  the 
individual  to  society.  Any  view  of  life  that  limits 
morals  to  the  simple  lines  of  individual  conduct  is 
not  only  inadequate;  it  is  likely  to  become  immoral 
in  its  practical  results  in  the  presence  of  a  world  of 
complex  social  relationships.  It  tends  to  deny  re- 
sponsibility where  the  results  of  an  act  are  obscure 
and  complex. 

But  responsibility  remains  in  spite  of  all  social 
complexities.  All  ethics  are  essentially  social.  The 
requirements  of  the  Decalogue,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill" 
and  the  rest  that  define  what  is  due  from  one  per- 
son to  another  in  the  simplest  and  most  elementary 
terms,  recognize  social  responsibility.  The  only  dif- 
ference between  questions  of  right  and  wrong  stated 
in  this  simple  way  and  the  far-reaching  questions 
of  social  righteousness  and  social  wrong  of  to-day  is 
one  of  the  degree  of  complexity. 

No  one  will  deny  the  righteousness  of  the  direct 
command,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  when  stealing  is 
bare-faced  robbery  by  personal  violence  or  sneaking 
thievery  by  the  midnight  marauder.  Here  the 
wrongdoer  and  the  process  are  too  plainly  visible  not 
to  be  recognized.  But  when  the  thief  is  a  corpora- 
tion, when  the  hold-up  process  is  not  the  pistol  in 

94 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

hand,  but  the  more  terrible  weapon  of  starvation  or 
of  cold,  then  the  combination  of  men  that  worked 
out  of  sight  to  corner  the  food  supply  or  to  limit  the 
coal  output  and  force  thousands  of  the  hungry  and 
cold  to  surrender  their  slim  purses  may  in  some 
quarters  be  regarded  as  "shrewd" ;  but  to  the  mind 
illumined  with  the  spirit  of  justice  and  brotherly 
kindness  it  is  simply  a  more  subtle  and  not  less  cul- 
pable way  of  sinning  the  same  sin. 

We  shrink  with  unutterable  horror  when  the  high- 
wayman adds  to  his  crime  by  steeping  his  hands  in 
the  blood  of  his  fellow  man.  We  do  not  need  to  be 
told  of  the  awfulness  of  murder.  The  command- 
ment, "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  is  absolute  in  the  code 
of  every  sane  and  civilized  country,  and  none  ques- 
tions the  righteousness  thereof  when  the  murderer 
is  red-handed  and  when  the  deed  is  for  gold  or  for 
malice.  So  long  as  we  can  say,  "Thou  art  the  man," 
so  long  is  guilt  unquestioned.  But  when  murder  is 
organized  and  on  a  vast  scale,  when  murderers  are 
powerful  and  hide  behind  the  technicalities  of  the 
law,  and  when  they  slay  their  thousands  for  divi- 
dends, then  it  seems  necessary  to  charge  up  to  a 
heartless  providence  the  murdered  babies  who  die 
because  it  was  profitable  to  preserve  milk  with  for- 
maldehyde or  to  adulterate  food  with  deleterious 
counterfeits.  It  is  easy  to  deny  responsibility  when 
women  and  children  die  of  tuberculosis  because  they 
are  forced  to  work  in  dust-laden,  unventilated  rooms 
or  because  disease  festers  in  filthy  sections  of  the 
city,  while  the  town  councilmen  see  to  it  that  the 
taxes  of  all  the  people  are  spent  in  making  clean  and 
attractive  streets  before  their  own  homes,  leaving 

95 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  hopeless  and  uninflueutial  to  suffer  or  to  die 
through  neglect  of  sanitation  and  health  essentials. 
But  the  just  and  merciful  God  bears  the  same  rela- 
tion to  such  murder  that  he  bears  to  the  victim  of 
the  highwayman.  In  each  case  God's  laws,  which 
are  good,  are  subverted  by  those  who  are  evil,  to  the 
destruction  of  the  innocent  and  the  helpless. 

There  is  no  crime  so  heinous  in  civilized  communi- 
ties as  that  of  dishonoring  womanhood.  And  yet  in 
every  great  city  of  America  there  are  thousands  of 
girls  who  want  to  do  right  and  who  are  fighting  for 
their  very  souls  and  bodies  against  conditions  that 
are  subtly  undermining  character  and  virtue,  under 
an  economic  pressure  greater  than  many  are  able  to 
resist.  Yet  many  grow  rich  and  are  called  respecta- 
ble, while  the  poor  starved  creatures  whose  labors 
make  them  rich  are  swept  down  the  stream.  But  it 
is  the  custom,  and  the  hideous  wrong,  with  its  in- 
alienable and  immitigable  responsibility,  is  hidden 
somewhere  out  of  sight,  and  the  whirlpool  of  the 
rapids  is  filled,  not  with  one  horrible  victim,  but 
with  the  unnumbered  wronged  and  ruined. 

These  illustrations  will  suffice  for  the  present  pur- 
pose to  show  that  the  commandment,  recognized  and 
enforced  under  simple,  obvious,  and  direct  relations, 
is  forgotten  or  disregarded  when  the  conditions  of 
human  life  become  more  intricate.  Others  of  the 
commandments  might  similarly  be  used  to  illustrate 
the  tendency  to  evade  the  responsibility  under  the 
cover  afforded  by  complexities  of  situation  and  in- 
directness of  personal  relation.  It  is  easy  for  the 
corporation  to  look  to  the  manager  of  the  business 
for  profits  only,  and  for  the  manager,  in  turn,  to 

96 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

feel  that  he  has  no  option  but  to  beat  his  competitors 
by  the  laws  current  in  trade  and  to  produce  the  prof- 
its expected  by  the  stockholders.  If  in  the  process 
men  are  broken  and  women  are  crushed  and  children 
die  and  the  cry  of  agonized  despair  goes  up  to  God, 
nobody  accepts  the  responsibility.  Everybody  in 
good  conscience  washes  his  hands  of  guilt,  and  the 
robbed  and  the  murdered  and  the  violated  may  not 
hold  anybody  to  account  Nor  may  they  even  hope 
for  relief. 

To  be  sure,  it  is  by  no  means  an  easy  thing  to  fix 
responsibility  for  many  of  the  wrongs  of  society. 
The  more  we  analyze  some  of  these  wrongs,  the  more 
shall  we  find  that  not  necessarily  the  man  on  whom 
we  are  disposed  to  place  the  blame  may  be  solely  re- 
sponsible. A  hundred  people,  a  thousand,  or  per- 
haps the  entire  community  may  in  some  way  share 
in  the  guilt  of  plunder,  murder,  and  violence.  Many 
a  sickening  tragedy,  if  ferreted  out  and  traced  to  its 
origin,  would  lead  back  to  some  respected  and  pro- 
tected man  or  woman  who  would  be  horrified  if 
charged  with  the  responsibility. 

What,  then,  shall  we  do,  since  under  the  cover  of 
a  complex  life  people  continue  either  in  ignorance  of 
their  responsibility  or  in  evasion  of  it?  The  wrong 
and  the  ruin  go  relentlessly  on.  Shall  nothing  be 
done?  Shall  we  wash  our  hands  in  innocency  be- 
cause w^e  see  no  direct  way  of  correcting  the  wrong? 
It  is  not  pleasant  to  accept  responsibility  for  steal- 
ing, for  murder,  for  violence.  If,  then,  it  is  only  a 
vast,  intricate  situation  of  which  any  one  of  us  is 
but  a  small  part,  shall  we  and  all  of  our  fellows  deny 
responsibility  and  let  the  wrong  increase?  We  may, 
7  97 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

if  we  will,  and  refuse  to  think  of  it  as  an  unpleasant 
subject.  But  the  wronged,  the  robbed,  the  mur- 
dered, the  violated  will  not  so  easily  forget — nay, 
they  cannot  forget — for  they  are  the  victims  over 
which  the  wheels  of  our  social  chariot  drive. 

What  then?  As  Christians  we  are  plainly  guilty 
if  we  hush  the  cry  of  the  wronged  only  by  stopping 
our  own  ears.  Tlie  fact  that  a  social  wrong  cannot 
he  righted  hy  the  simple,  direct  efforts  of  an  indi- 
vidual does  not  relieve  that  individual  of  responsi- 
'bility  in  the  premises — a  responsiMlity  tvhich  can  he 
discharged  only  hy  putting  forth  every  effort,  through 
organized  and  social  cooperation,  to  redeem  the  sit- 
uation. For  the  processes  of  redemption  become 
complex  in  proportion  as  the  processes  of  ruin  are 
complex. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  unless  one  means  to  become 
a  Robinson  Crusoe,  dealing  with  his  man  Friday 
on  a  lonely  island,  he  must  accept  the  responsibili- 
ties that  grow  out  of  his  social  relationships,  how- 
ever complex  they  may  be.  When  he  finds  himself  a 
part  of  a  municipality  where  government  is  corrupt, 
a  part  of  a  business  system  where  results  work  in- 
justice to  others,  a  part  of  a  community  responsible 
for  the  failing  lungs  of  pale-faced  women  and  chil- 
dren, he  may  not  be  indifferent  about  these  things. 
He  is  guilty  of  complicity  and  responsibility  before 
God  and  man  if  he  continues  to  share  in  the  benefits 
of  the  situation  or  remains  at  ease  and  strives  not  to 
right  the  wrong  by  all  the  means  at  his  command. 

In  the  face  of  such  responsibility,  what  shall  we 
say  to  what  was  once  frequently  heard,  but  now,  hap- 
pily, is  only  repeated  by  some  belated  traveler  in  the 

98 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

twentieth  century,  but  not  of  it,  that  the  Church  has 
nothing  to  do  with  social  wrongs  and  social  ques- 
tions? Plainly,  from  every  ethical  point  of  view, 
this  position  is  the  same  as  if  one  said  the  Church 
has  nothing  to  do  with  morality,  because,  from  the 
viewpoint  of  even  the  most  extreme  individualist,  it 
must  appear  that  there  can  be  no  social  sin  that  is 
not  also  an  individual  sin.  If,  then,  social  robbery, 
social  murder,  social  violence  are  beyond  the  con- 
cern of  the  Church,  it  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  in 
these  forms  the  Church  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
requirements  of  the  Decalogue,  since  all  that  is  nec- 
essary to  avoid  responsibility  is  to  organize  the 
wrong  on  a  large  scale  and  obscure  the  line  of  per- 
sonal responsibility  behind  a  system  or  a  condition, 
a  corporation  or  a  legal  technicality.  Once  there 
was  at  least  some  excuse  for  the  man  who  refused  to 
recognize  his  social  responsibility,  and  once  the  ex- 
tent of  social  wrong  possible  was  incomparably  less 
than  it  is  to-day.  But  now  such  a  one  must  be  re- 
garded as  a  dangerous  enemy  of  society.  For  socie- 
ty at  large  is  not  greatly  endangered  by  the  sneak 
thief,  the  highway  robber,  or  by  one  who  shoots  his 
victim  for  pelf.  It  is  threatened,  however,  at  its 
very  foundations  by  those  who  profit  by  the  condi- 
tions they  are  able  to  organize  for  gain,  without  re- 
gard to  the  effect  in  the  hopes  and  lives  of  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  their  fellow  men.  For  the  Church 
to  be  silent  under  such  conditions  is  to  deny  her 
Lord  and  to  prove  herself  unworthy  to  continue  as 
the  light  bearer  of  the  ages.  Such  a  course  must 
bring  discredit  to  the  Church  as  the  champion  of 
righteousness.    The  Church  could  far  better  afford, 

99 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

so  far  as  practical  results  are  concerned,  to  be  mum 
on  the  subject  of  petit  larceny  and  assassination 
than  on  a  whole  order  of  iniquities  that,  like  a  fatal 
parasitic  growth,  eat  out  the  very  heart  of  honor, 
justice,  brotherly  kindness,  and  love.  Even  the 
chicken  thief  is  sure  to  have  his  punishment  in  the 
light  of  a  well-established  custom  and  code.  But 
the  white  light  of  judgment  from  the  face  and  heart 
of  God  is  needed  to  play  upon  those  vaster  crimes 
of  our  day  that  carry  with  them  the  doom  of  whole 
nations  and  civilizations. 

2.  The  Awakening  of  the  Social  Conscience  and  the  Re- 
discovery of  the  Social  Message  of  the 
Christian  Religion 

The  exceedingly  intricate  conditions  of  society 
which  make  it  so  difficult  to  locate  responsibility  are 
in  large  measure  new.  Until  the  time  of  the  steam 
engine  and  the  industrial  revolution  that  followed, 
life  moved  on  very  much  simpler  lines.  The  manu- 
facturer labored  with  his  several  operatives  within 
his  own  home.  The  tools  of  industry  were  simple 
and  owned  in  large  measure  by  those  who  used  them. 

During  the  last  century  the  entire  conditions  of 
production  and  of  transportation  and  the  whole  re- 
lation between  capital  and  labor  have  been  radically 
altered.  Some  of  the  results  of  this  must  be  dis- 
cussed in  later  chapters.  Here  it  is  sufiScient  to  in- 
dicate the  unavoidable  fact  that  we  have  to  deal  with 
a  situation  and  not  a  theory — a  situation  that  must 
be  faced,  a.  situation  pregnant  with  possibilities  for 
the  weal  or  woe  of  an  entire  race,  a  situation  that 
creates  social  thinking  perforce,  a  situation  in  which 

100 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

the  organic  relationships  involved  are  too  evident  to 
be  overlooked. 

A  vast,  complex  life  is  growing  up  to-day.  Like 
the  myriad  cells  knit  by  their  fibers  into  the  unity  of 
one  brain,  with  an  interplay  and  interdependence  of 
the  different  cells  and  parts  of  the  brain  on  each  oth- 
er bej^ond  all  comprehension,  so  individuals  and  local 
communities,  great  cities.  States,  and  even  nations 
are  more  and  more  being  wrought  by  living  process- 
es into  a  vast  unity  of  interdependence  and  responsi- 
bility. 

This  interplay  of  forces  has  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  all  thoughtful  persons  the  sense  of  increased 
social  solidarity  and  responsibility.  But  chiefly 
those  who  are  ground  beneath  the  wheels  cry  out. 
The  victims  of  this  great  impersonal,  irresponsible 
system  of  the  things  have  usually  been  more  con- 
scious of  the  true  significance  of  the  developing  order 
than  those  who  profited  by  it.  But  the  cry  that  has 
gone  up  to  God  has  not  been  in  vain.  The  answer 
has  come  and  is  coming,  not  in  a  destructive  flood  or 
earthquake  to  the  wrongdoer,  but  as  social  judg- 
ment in  the  conscience  of  the  people. 

The  social  awakening  of  the  last  few  years  will  be 
chronicled  by  the  impartial  historian  of  the  future  as 
one  of  the  greatest  awakenings  to  righteousness  in 
the  history  of  the  race.  The  time  when  vast  manu- 
facturing and  mining  companies  could  exercise  no 
care  and  have  no  concern  for  the  lives  and  limbs  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  the  time  when  business 
was  measured  almost  exclusively  in  terms  of  divi- 
dends, regardless  of  cost  in  character  or  in  health,  in 
life  and  happiness  of  the  men  who  drew  the  wage 

101 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  produced  the  wealth,  will  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  hideous  black  eras  of  man's  inhumanity.  And 
the  light  of  clearer  judgment  and  knowledge  that 
came  into  men's  hearts  with  the  social  awakening 
will  be  seen  as  the  white-burning  light  out  of  eter- 
nity, the  same  light  that  blazed  white-hot  in  judg- 
ment in  the  heart  of  Jesus  when  he  saw  men  devour 
widows'  houses  and  make  a  pretense  of  piety.  Such 
also  was  the  light  that  illumined  and  stirred  to 
burning  wrath  the  hearts  of  the  prophets  like  Amos 
and  Isaiah. 

At  its  heart  and  at  its  highest  this  social  con- 
science is  not  a  substitute  for  religion,  not  a  man- 
made  rival  of  Christianity.  It  is  religion  aroused 
from  its  sleep  of  false  security  and  of  selfish  individ- 
ualism and  face  to  face  with  the  God  of  humanity, 
who  demands  that  men  make  religion  broad  enough 
to  square  with  the  facts  of  his  world  and  the  require- 
ments of  his  kingdom. 

3.  The  Rediscovery  of  the  Social  Elements  of  the  Gospel 

Back  of  the  social  awakening,  even  when  not  dis- 
cernible, is  the  spirit  of  Jesus.  Both  as  a  result  and 
as  a  cause  of  the  new  social  conscience  of  to-day  is 
the  rediscovery  of  the  profound  and  far-reaching  so- 
cial message  contained  in  the  Gospels.  Instead  of 
having  to  adapt  a  gospel  of  former  ages  to  a  modern 
world,  we  discover  Jesus  to  be  the  most  modern  of 
preachers.  Passages  in  the  Gospels  that  had  been 
twisted  out  of  their  original  and  natural  meaning 
through  the  interpretation  of  a  narrow  individual- 
ism become  plain  and  luminous  as  one  grasps  the 
larger  conception  of  Jesus's  teaching  concerning  the 

102 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

kingdom.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that  even  those 
who  have  lost  sympathy  with  the  Church  altogether 
claim  Jesus  as  their  Friend  and  Brother,  while  the 
Church  itself,  through  her  real  leaders,  has  found 
a  depth,  a  breadth,  and  height  in  the  gospel  of  re- 
demption unrealized  before.  Men  have  discovered 
not  less  of  promise  for  the  individual,  not  less  of 
power  for  a  new  life  in  God,  but  more,  because  they 
have  learned  that  there  is  a  larger  and  a  fuller  life 
for  every  man  as  he  realizes  his  destiny  as  a  member 
of  God's  family. 

Thus  the  social  awakening  does  not  mean  the  loss 
of  the  old  gospel,  but  rather  a  rediscovery  of  the  gos- 
pel and  outlook  of  Jesus  himself. 

4.  The  Wider  Task  and  the  Enlarged  Gospel 

The  disciple  who  would  follow  Jesus  into  his  king- 
dom beyond  this  world  must  share  in  his  purpose 
and  work  here.  The  work  of  saving  this  world  is  the 
work  of  the  divine  Saviour.  He  has  not  for  one  mo- 
ment given  it  up.  But  just  because  it  is  his  work  it 
is  the  work  of  his  disciples.  The  wider  task  of  the 
Church  is  to  create  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  to  im- 
plant the  kingdom  in  every  part  of  the  earth.  It  is 
to  spread  abroad  the  influence  of  righteousness  and 
good  will  till  the  light  of  the  gospel  flames  into  ev- 
ery dark  crevice  of  human  life  and  human  thought, 
till  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  shall  become  the  positive 
dynamic  in  molding  human  institutions  and  customs 
and  all  expressions  of  the  corporate  life  of  humani- 
ty, until  all  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  receive  the 
gospel,  even  if  some  shall  refuse  to  have  Jesus  reign 
over  them.    Our  task  is  to  create  such  a  world  that 

103 


PROGRAM  OP  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

even  these  must  needs  live  in  a  society  whose  domi- 
nant influences,  ideals,  and  spirit  are  those  that 
came  into  the  world  through  Jesus. 

This  is  not  too  much  to  expect.  It  is  not  a  fanati- 
cal dream.  It  is  the  spirit  and  outlook  of  the  most 
representative  Christian  faith  of  to-day.  It  is  the 
inspiration  of  the  great  missionary  leaders  of  the 
world,  the  great  Christian  social  leaders,  the  great 
preachers,  and  the  foremost  Christian  laymen.  It  is 
nothing  less  than  the  discovery  of  the  enlarged  gos- 
pel of  Jesus,  the  gospel  whose  wider  sweep  of  mean- 
ing is  even  now  breaking  upon  the  world.  It  means 
that  Christian  people  are  accepting,  with  undaunted 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  challenge  of  the  world  for 
a  message  of  salvation,  a  message  adequate  to  the 
whole  world's  needs.  Here  is  the  dynamic  of  re- 
demption, sufficient  for  every  man  and  for  every  na- 
tion, a  power  of  salvation  equal  to  the  task  of  mak- 
ing this  a  better  world  in  all  its  vast  reaches  and  in- 
tricate complexity.  Here  is  a  power  sufficient  to 
undergircl  the  world  life  of  humanity  and  to  estab- 
lish a  kingdom  in  which  God  shall  reign. 

This  is  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  preached  by  Je- 
sus. It  is  the  gospel  that  insists  upon  his  right  to 
reign  in  all  realms  and  over  all  kingdoms.  It  is  the 
gospel  that  faces  every  wrong — individual  and  so- 
cial, local,  national,  and  international  —  without 
compromise  and  causes  the  light  of  justice  and  of 
Christian  love  to  fall  squarely  upon  it,  demanding 
that  nothing  be  allowed  to  stand  that  cannot  endure 
that  searching  test.  -  It  not  only  holds  that  justice 
and  brotherly  kindness  are  practicable,  but  dares  as- 
sert that  nothing  else  is  permanent  and  in  harmony 

104 


THE  SOCIAL  TASK 

with  the  eternally  workable.  It  dares  offer  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  changeless  truth  of  God  in  him  as  the 
power  of  a  new  life  for  every  man,  as  a  sufficient 
dynamic  for  the  re-creation  of  life  in  all  the  relation- 
ships that  men  sustain  to  each  other.  In  this  gospel 
is  the  hope  of  a  brotherhood  of  men  and  of  the  fam- 
ily of  God  on  the  earth,  but  a  family  that  reaches 
into  the  eternities  because  its  home  is  with  the  time- 
less God. 

Thought  Questions 

1.  How  far  must  the  Christian  people  accept  responsi- 
bility for  the  conditions  that  prevail  in  society? 

2.  Which  is  the  greater  enemy  to  society,  the  murderer 
or  the  man  who  adulterates  foodstuffs  with  deleterious 
products,  thereby  destroying  many  lives? 

3.  Compare  the  guilt  of  the  thief  who  steals  a  few  dol- 
lars with  that  of  the  man  who  "corners"  the  supply  of 
some  necessary  of  life  and  extorts  his  millions. 

4.  In  how  far  is  a  man  a  Christian  who  is  not  stirred 
with  indignation  at  the  sight  of  social  injustice? 

105 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CREATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Mathews,  *'The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus." 
Peabody,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question. 
Cope,  "Religious  Education  in  the  Family." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CREATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

The  first  and  most  fundamental  institution  of  hu- 
man society  is  the  family.  It  is  the  social  unit.  So- 
ciety is  made  up  of  families.  In  it  the  individual 
life  is  completed,  and  through  it  individuals  become 
members  of  society.  In  its  relation,  therefore,  to 
the  individual  the  family  is  a  society,  while  in  its 
relations  to  society  as  a  whole  it  is  the  elementary 
unit.  It  may  be  said  of  this  primary  social  unit 
and  of  organized  society  as  a  whole  that  they  do  not 
exist  apart.  On  the  one  hand,  every  condition  of  so- 
cial life  will  tend  to  affect  the  family ;  on  the  other, 
families  are  the  creators  of  the  stuff  out  of  which 
society  is  made  and  the  chief  of  the  factors  in  weav- 
ing the  social  fabric  itself.  The  family  not  only 
gives  being  and  training  to  the  child  as  an  individ- 
ual, but  the  family,  itself  a  society,  is  an  epitome  of 
the  whole  of  society.  Here,  in  part,  the  laws  of  so- 
ciety as  it  is  are  learned ;  and  here,  in  larger  meas- 
ure, the  laws  and  ideals  of  the  society  that  is  to  be 
are  formed. 

If  in  order  to  create  a  Christian  world  and  to  es- 
tablish the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  Christianity 
had  first  to  begin  with  the  individual,  it  is  evident 
that  the  next  step  must  have  been  the  Christianiza- 
tion  of  the  family.  For  if  the  Christian  religion 
roots  in  the  individual  life,  it  grows  up  into  its  full 
leaf  and  fruitage  only  through  the  unity  of  the  fam- 
ily life.    Apart  from  Christian  homes,  the  religion 

109 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  individuals  can  have  but  a  limited  spread  and 
growth;  and  without  Christian  homes  there  can  be 
no  normal,  self-propagating  Christian  society.  For 
the  Christian  religion,  therefore,  and  all  that  it  rep- 
resents, the  Christian  family  is  the  chief  bulwark. 
It  is  the  open  door  of  opportunity  through  which 
Jesus  Christ  may  come  to  the  throne  of  his  king- 
dom and  is  the  chief  agency  by  which  other  social 
institutions  are  to  be  Christianized. 

1.  The  Christian  Ideal  of  the  Family 

(1)  Jesus's  teaching  regarding  marriage. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  Jesus  is  more  specific  in 
his  teaching  regarding  the  family  than  in  regard  to 
any  other  institution.  It  is  not  possible  to  quote 
his  authority  as  to  the  final  form  of  the  industrial 
order,  the  most  approved  method  of  governing  the 
State,  or  the  particular  plan  according  to  which  the 
Church  is  to  be  organized.  His  only  governing 
principle  in  these  matters  is  the  law  and  spirit  of 
the  kingdom.  But  in  the  case  of  the  family  he  is 
specific.  The  family  has  a  constitution  based  upon 
the  fixed  laws  of  God,  so  that  its  integrity  grows 
out  of  the  nature  of  things  and  is  essential  to  the 
realization  of  God's  purpose  for  the  individual  and 
for  the  race.  Such  would  seem  a  fair  interpretation 
of  the  absolute  teachings  of  Jesus  regarding  mar- 
riage when  the  Pharisees  came  to  him  with  one  of 
the  current  questions,  indicating  the  decaying  moral 
state  of  the  times.  Going  back  of  all  compromises 
and  all  concessions  to  human  sin  and  weakness,  and 
quoting  the  ancient  Hebrew  Scriptures,  he  bases  his 
answer  upon  the  plan  and  purpose  of  God  from  the 

110 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

beginning  for  the  creation  and  the  development  of 
the  race :  "Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  who  made  them 
from  the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female,  and 
said,  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife ;  and  the  twain 
shall  become  one  flesh?''  And  Jesus  adds:  "So  that 
they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh.  What,  there- 
fore, God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asun- 
der." 

Marriage  is  not  a  partnership  or  contract  entered 
upon  for  the  convenience  of  the  parties,  to  be  dis- 
solved at  pleasure.  The  man  and  the  woman  are 
no  longer  parties ;  they  are  members  of  a  new  unity, 
made  one  by  the  holy  decree  and  ordinance  of  God, 
which  is  written  In  the  very  constitution  of  their 
being.  The  relationship  is  as  fundamental  as  that 
between  parent  and  child.  A  parent  may  be  un- 
worthy of  a  child,  or  a  child  of  the  parent;  but  no 
consent  of  parent  or  child,  or  decree  of  court,  can 
alter  the  fact  of  parenthood  and  of  childhood.  The 
State  and  the  Church  properly  recognize  it  and,  by 
due  ceremony  and  authorization,  give  it  the  stamp 
of  their  approval.  But  the  foundations  of  marriage 
are  deeper  and  more  original  than  those  of  either 
Church  or  State.  Jesus  says  man  and  woman  are 
made  one  by  no  less  Authority  than  that  which  made 
them  male  and  female.  So  that  neither  the  Church 
nor  the  State  can  any  more  change  the  one  fact  than 
it  can  change  the  other.  "The  Christian  law  is  not 
primarily  designed  to  make  allowance  for  social 
failures,  but  to  establish  the  principles  of  the  king- 
dom of  God."i 

^Peabody,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question,"  p.  158. 
Ill 


PROGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(2)  The  dignity  of  marriage  and  the  position  of 
woman. 

The  dignity  of  marriage  resulting  from  the  Chris- 
tian view  is  apparent.  Marriage  is  an  honorable 
and  holy  estate.  This  is  so  because  of  the  place  it 
occupies  in  the  divine  plan.  It  is  to  be  held  in  rev- 
erence, not  made  the  subject  of  jest,  not  entered  upon 
lightly  or  selfishly,  but  in  view  of  the  seriousness  of 
the  responsibilities  involved  and  in  recognition  of 
the  full  devotion  and  the  sacrificial  service  that  are 
due.  The  Christian  family  cannot  be  built  upon 
selfish  desire  and  inconsideration.  Its  very  first 
principle  is  surrender  of  the  individual  to  the  high- 
er requirements  of  the  family.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
socializing  process  which  the  family  is  to  accomplish 
that  individual  rights  and  preferences  should  con- 
stantly be  yielded  to  the  rights  and  needs  of  the 
family  group. 

Again,  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  enforced  by  his  ha- 
bitual attitude  toward  women,  insures  honor  and  re- 
spect for  womanhood  among  his  followers  and  gives 
a  new  standing  to  woman  in  the  Christian  world. 
The  utter  absence  of  any  suggestion  that  she  stands 
on  any  other  footing  than  that  of  equal  honor  and 
rights  with  her  husband  causes  the  heathen  idea 
that  the  wife  is  a  chattel  of  the  husband,  to  be  taken 
and  put  away  at  his  will,  to  slink  away  and  hide 
itself  wherever  the  force  of  Jesus's  teaching  has 
been  felt.  Jesus  has  emancipated  woman  and  has 
given  the  wife  and  mother  the  place  of  honor  beside 
the  worthy  husband  and  father. 

(3)  Jesus  reaffirms  an  original  ideal. 

It  is  not,  of  course,  held  that  Jesus  has  established 
11^ 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

a  wholly  new  institution  apart  from  the  development 
of  the  family  in  race  history.  On  the  contrary,  the 
essential  elements  of  the  Christian  family,  as  set 
forth  in  the  specific  utterances  of  Jesus,  were  al- 
ready in  existence  in  many  homes.  The  home  of 
Mary  and  Joseph  was  worthy  to  serve  as  his  model. 
What  Jesus  does  is  this :  In  an  age  when  marriage 
in  the  Roman  Empire  was  coming  to  be  regarded  as 
a  mere  contract,  to  be  broken  at  will,  and  when 
through  domestic  insincerity  and  corruption  the 
very  foundations  of  society  were  tottering,  he  laid 
hold  on  the  fundamental  principles  of  family  life, 
brought  them  into  clear  relief,  and  asserted  their  di- 
vine origin  and  their  changeless  nature.  It  is,  how- 
ever, both  interesting  and  profitable  to  note  that  the 
scientific  study  of  the  history  of  the  family  leads  to 
the  same  conclusion.  Many  variations  from  the 
family,  as  approved  by  Jesus,  there  have  been.  But 
the  original  law,  which  Jesus  says  was  intended  by 
the  Creator  from  the  beginning,  ever  tends  to  assert 
itself.  So  that,  in  spite  of  many  social  customs  to 
the  contrary,  in  spite  of  the  broken  law,  monogamic 
marriage  has,  by  the  test  of  the  ages,  survived  and 
proved  its  harmony  with  the  law  of  highest  social 
interest.  "It  is,  indeed,  older  than  the  human  race. 
It  runs  back  into  the  very  beginning  of  creation.  It 
is  the  law  of  life — not  only  of  the  animal,  but  also 
of  the  vegetable  orders.  And,  in  general,  the  higher 
life  rises  in  the  scale  of  being,  the  nearer  it  approach- 
es to  both  monogamy  and  perpetuity.  Promiscuous 
marriages,  temporary  relationships,  easy  separation 
characterize  the  barbarous  tribes.  The  modem 
8  113 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

movement  in  this  direction  is  a  distinct  reversion  to 
barbaric  and  even  brutal  conditions."^ 

(4)  The  contribution  of  the  Christian  religion  to 
the  family  ideal. 

But  the  Christian  ideal  of  the  family  is  not  com- 
pleted in  the  specific  teachings  of  Jesus  regarding 
marriage.  This  ideal  of  the  family  includes  other  ele- 
ments that  are  characteristic  products  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion. 

First,  there  is  a  new  value  and  significance  given 
to  the  family  and  a  new  incentive  for  the  creation 
of  families  after  the  Christian  type.  This  naturally 
follows  from  the  Christian  outlook  on  life,  the  place 
of  the  individual  and  the  kingdom  in  Christian 
thought.  It  is  plain  that  whatever  enhances  the 
value  either  of  the  individual  or  of  society  must  to 
that  extent  give  added  worth  to  the  family  in  its  es- 
sential relation  to  both.  The  personal  value  of  ev- 
ery individual  and  the  social  ideal  of  the  kingdom, 
which  are  essential  in  Christian  thought,  give  an  en- 
tirely new  setting  for  the  family.  The  family  be- 
comes exalted  in  proportion  as  it  becomes  integrat- 
ed with  God's  purpose  to  rear  better  sons  and  daugh- 
ters and  to  gather  them  all  into  one  family  in  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

Secondly,  the  Christian  religion  supplies  a  new 
power  or  dynamic  for  the  realization  of  the  ideal 
through  the  moral  life  and  character  of  the  members 
of  the  family.  The  ideal  of  the  family  will  be  real- 
ized, and  the  family  will  be  a  type  of  the  perfect 

^"Westmarck's  "History  of  Marriage,"  quoted  in  Abbott's 
"Christianity  and  Social  Problems." 

114 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

Christian  society,  only  when  the  members  of  the  fam- 
ily are  Christlike  in  character.  The  Christian  hus- 
band and  father,  the  Christian  wife  and  mother 
make  the  Christian  family;  and  to  them  the  family 
will  become  glorified  as  they  see  in  it  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  heaven  on  earth,  the  symbol  and  promise 
of  God's  family  of  the  redeemed,  and  as  they  realize 
that  in  and  through  their  own  family  is  their  su- 
preme opportunity  to  contribute  to  the  upbuilding 
of  the  kingdom  and  family  of  God. 

2.  The  Family  in  Relation  to  the  Child 

The  family  finds  its  highest  significance  in  its  re- 
lation to  the  child.  This  is  true  both  of  its  physical 
life  and  of  the  growth  and  development  of  the  child 
in  the  entirety  of  its  nature.  The  chief  purpose  of 
the  family,  as  of  society,  is  to  produce  better  per- 
sons and  a  better  race.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
manifestations  of  true  parenthood  is  the  deep,  in- 
sistent desire  for  the  best  and  fullest  life  for  the 
child.  For  this  parents  will  strive  and  sacrifice  as 
for  nothing  else.  Where  the  ideals  of  the  parents 
are  Christian,  this  parental  desire  will  be  in  terms  of 
character  and  service.  Above  all  else,  they  will  de- 
sire for  their  children  that  they  shall  become  Christ- 
like men  and  women  and  shall  render  the  largest 
possible  service  to  the  world. 

The  childless  family  is  incomplete.  Not  only  does 
it  necessarily  fail  in  making  the  family's  supreme 
contribution  to  society  in  the  child  brought  to  the 
maturity  of  Christian  manhood  or  womanhood,  but 
it  fails,  in  large  measure,  as  a  school  for  the  devel- 

115 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

opment  in  husband  and  wife  of  some  of  the  finer  and 
deeper  qualities  of  character. 

(1)  As  an  educational  institution. 

In  the  education  of  the  race  the  family  occupies 
the  place  of  first  importance.  It  is  as  an  education- 
al and  social  environment  for  developing  immature 
persons  that  the  integrity  and  permanence  of  the 
family  become  imperative,  both  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  child  and  of  society.  When  we  compare 
the  helplessness  of  the  human  infant  with  the  young 
of  the  lower  animals,  when  we  consider  the  long 
years  of  the  child's  immaturity  and  the  high  degree 
of  its  educability  as  compared  with  the  early  ma- 
turity of  the  brute  creation  and  their  very  limited 
capacity  for  anything  like  education,  the  conviction 
is  forced  upon  us  that  the  family  is  an  essential  part 
of  the  divine  plan,  designed  as  the  most  potent  of 
all  institutions  for  shaping  the  character  and  des- 
tiny of  the  race. 

The  highest  right  of  the  child  is  the  right  to  a 
true  home  in  which  to  find  nourishment,  protection, 
guidance,  and  training  in  preparation  for  the  day 
when,  as  a  full-grown  man  or  woman,  the  child  is  to 
take  the  place  in  the  world  for  which,  by  its  capa- 
bilities and  training,  it  is  fitted.  This  is  the  highest 
right  of  a  child,  since  it  includes,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, almost  all  other  rights.  It  is  likewise  the 
first  concern  of  organized  society  that  this  right 
should  be  guaranteed,  since  upon  this  depend  the 
growth  and  development  of  its  members  and  the  very 
character  and  existence  of  society  itself. 

(2)  In  the  social,  moral,  and  religious  development 
of  the  child. 

lie 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

Man  has  a  social,  a  moral,  and  a  religious  nature. 
He  can  no  more  divest  himself  of  any  one  of  these 
than  he  can  cease  to  be  man.  "The  child  is  father  to 
the  man/'  and  the  inmost  man,  therefore,  appears 
in  the  child.  Childhood  is  preeminently  the  period 
for  the  training,  the  growth,  and  development  of  the 
social,  moral,  and  religious  nature.  Beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  normal  life  of  the  child  within  the 
family  there  is  a  well-known  fixity  of  mind  and  char- 
acter that  leaves  a  diminishing  probability  of  any 
new  directions  being  given  to  the  life  in  any  of  these 
essential  matters.  Education  is  not  synonymous 
with  instruction  any  more  than  growth  is  synony- 
mous with  feeding,  though  education  may  be  depend- 
ent upon  the  one  as  growth  is  dependent  upon  the 
other.  Education  looks  to  the  unfolding  of  the  whole 
life — the  growth  and  development  of  the  complete 
personality.  Therefore  the  factors  in  education  are 
the  sum  total  of  the  influences  that  environ  the  life 
of  the  growing  individual,  stimulating,  retarding,  or 
guiding  the  development  of  budding  and  expanding 
powers.  Among  all  of  these  influences  the  home  is 
without  a  rival  in  the  social,  moral,  and  religious 
development  of  the  child.  The  reasons  are  obvious : 
the  proportion  of  time  spent  in  the  home,  especially 
during  the  years  of  greatest  susceptibility  to  educa- 
tional influences;  the  beautiful  intimacy  of  parent 
and  child ;  the  instinctive  love  and  trust  that  keeps 
open  to  the  parent  the  deepest  springs  of  childhood's 
emotion  and  action,  the  supreme  power  of  influence, 
the  contagion  of  ideals  and  of  emotion ;  the  opportu- 
nities of  training  by  example,  by  cooperation,  and 
in  intimate  companionship;  the  actual  community 

117 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  interests,  of  ideals,  of  hopes  and  fears,  of  ef- 
fort and  reward — these  things  put  the  home  in  a 
class  alone,  so  far  as  opportunities  and  vital  poten- 
cies in  moral  and  religious  education  are  concerned. 
We  have  grouped  together  the  social,  the  moral, 
and  the  religious  development  of  the  child  because  of 
the  limitation  of  space  and  because  in  the  unity  of 
the  child's  nature  the  threefold  process  goes  on  as 
one,  and  whatever  influences  affect  the  one  phase  of 
development  must  have  a  vital  bearing  upon  the 
other.  The  bond  of  the  family  unity  is  personal.  It 
exists  for  persons  and  for  their  development  in  all 
that  makes  for  character  and  fullness  of  life.  The 
intimacy  of  the  family  life  supplies  the  best  possible 
opportunity  for  developing  those  powers  that  enable 
people  to  live  together  as  persons,  guarding  the 
rights  of  others,  laboring  and  sacrificing  for  the  wel- 
fare of  others,  and  in  turn  finding  the  higher  joys  of 
life  in  this  loyal  devotion  and  in  the  fellowship  and 
loving  sympathy  of  the  family.  It  is  only  necessary 
that  the  spirit  of  the  true  Christian  home  be  made 
the  spirit  governing  all  human  relationships  in  or- 
der that  the  moral  problems  of  the  world  may  disap- 
pear and  that  the  kingdom  be  established,  of  which 
Jesus  has  forever  made  the  family  the  type. 

(3)  The  highest  office  of  the  family. 

If  Christian  morals  consist  in  the  right  relations 
between  the  children  of  God,  religion  is  the  right  re- 
lation of  the  children  to  the  Father,  out  of  which 
their  whole  life  together  in  the  family  grows.  Reli- 
gious education  is  the  development  of  the  whole  life 
under  the  power  and  inspiration  of  an  ever-widening 
knowledge  of  God.    Religion,  then,  is  a  personal  re- 

118 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

lationship  and  the  highest.  It  is  that  relationship 
which  gives  worth  and  meaning  to  all  the  rest.  Reli- 
gion is  the  supreme  unifying  principle  of  life.  To 
know  God  through  Jesus,  his  Messenger,  is  life,  both 
now  and  forever.  It  is  in  bringing  the  children  to 
Jesus  in  understanding,  in  fellowship,  and  in  like- 
ness of  character,  and  in  acquainting  them  with  their 
Heavenly  Father,  that  the  Christian  family  rises  to 
its  highest  office. 

In  establishing  this  highest  of  all  personal  rela- 
tionships the  personality  of  one  who  knows  God  is 
the  supreme  human  factor.  In  this  office  the  Chris- 
tian parent  enters  the  holy  of  holies,  where  God  and 
the  child  meet  and  where  the  child  enters  through  the 
life  and  experience  of  a  Christian  parent  into  the 
great  companionship.  Thus  the  Christian  home  is 
designed  to  be  the  first  Christian  sanctuary  and  the 
heart  of  the  Christian  parent  the  open  doorway 
through  which  the  child  ascends  into  the  higher  fel- 
lowship with  God.  Blessed  is  the  child  who  finds  in 
his  father  and  mother  the  way  to  his  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther! 

3.  The  Preservation  of  the  Christian  Family 

In  the  program  of  the  Christian  religion  there  is 
nothing  of  more  fundamental  importance  than  the 
increase  of  the  number  of  families  that  exist  after 
the  Christian  ideal.  The  leavening  process  of  our 
religion  develops  most  rapidly  and  permanently 
through  the  extension  of  the  Christian  ideal  into  an 
ever-increasing  number  of  families  in  all  lands  of  the 
earth.  The  Christianization  of  other  institutions  or 
orders — such,  for  instance,  as  the  State  or  the  indus- 

119 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

trial  order — ^has  Lad  to  wait  upon  the  Christianiza- 
tion  of  a  larger  group ;  but  truly  Christian  families 
became  conspicuous  in  the  earliest  days  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  through  the  centuries  tens  of  thousands 
of  such  families  have  furnished  perhaps  the  bright- 
est chapter  in  the  entire  history  of  the  victories  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

How  to  preserve  the  Christian  family  as  an  ideal 
and  fact  in  civilization,  and  how  to  cause  that  ideal 
to  persist  and  to  prevail  over  all  lower  ideals,  is 
probably  the  most  urgent  question  that  claims  the 
attention  of  Christian  people  to-day. 

(1)  Evils  that  threaten  the  Christian  jamily. 

There  is  not  space  to  mention,  save  in  barest  out- 
line, the  conditions  and  influences  that  to-day  con- 
spire to  undermine  the  family  life  and  to  overthrow 
its  most  essential  ideals. 

(a)  First — at  least  in  order  of  popular  thought — 
we  may  mention  the  external  conditions  under  which 
many  modern  families  have  to  exist.  The  rapid  de- 
velopment of  the  great  cities,  with  their  congested 
population,  their  crowded  tenements,  or  their  nar- 
row apartments,  with  little  ventilation  and  no  play- 
ground; the  economic  pressure  that  forces  mothers 
into  the  factories  and  shops ;  the  city  life  that  scat- 
ters the  family  and  makes  of  the  home  little  more 
than  a  place  to  sleep ;  the  lack  of  privacy  and  of  oth- 
er conditions  characteristic  of  the  best  homes  as  we 
have  known  them — these  are  among  the  most  star- 
tlingly  serious  problems  that  threaten  the  stability 
of  the  family.  Under  these  adverse  conditions  some 
of  the  sublimest  struggles  of  this  time  of  struggle  are 
being  fought  out  for  the  maintenance  of  the  home. 

120 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

There  are  uncrowned  and  unrecognized  heroes  and 
heroines  standing  for  the  substructure  of  civiliza- 
tion against  the  onrushiug  tidal  wave  of  modern  ec- 
onomic and  industrial  life.  The  pathos  of  this  ago- 
ny and  sublime  devotion,  in  the  effort  to  safeguard 
their  homes,  cannot  be  put  into  words.  But  how 
long  can  they  hold  out  against  the  growing  tide?  On 
the  other  hand,  how  many  homes  have  we  not  seen 
crumble  and  swept  away  to  join  the  driftwood  of 
the  great,  surging  city  life?  Here  is  a  problem,  not 
only  serious,  but  so  serious  that  it  demands  an  an- 
swer of  civilization  Itself — and  surely  of  the  Chris- 
tian people. 

(&)  And  yet  when  all  is  said  of  the  evils  that  arise 
from  this  source  there  are  many  indications  that  the 
supreme  danger  threatening  the  family  does  not  lie 
in  this  direction.  Peabody  well  says:  "The  main 
sources  of  domestic  instability  are  not  economic,  but 
moral;  the  problem  of  the  family  is  not  chiefly  a  re- 
sult of  defective  social  arrangement,  but  chiefly  the 
result  of  a  defective  social  creed.  The  truth  of  this 
statement  is  at  once  verified  when  one  recalls  the 
fact  that  divorce,  like  nervous  prostration,  is  a  dis- 
ease which  afflicts  the  prosperous  more  than  it  does 
the  poor."  Impurity  and  the  selfish  spirit  that  de- 
grades marriage  and  thinks  of  home  only  as  an  ar- 
rangement for  personal  convenience  have  always  been 
the  deadliest  enemies  of  the  family.  But  when  this 
selfishness  becomes  reenforced  by  a  soft  philosophy 
that  justifies  it,  the  evil  becomes  vastly  more  serious. 
A  philosophy  of  sordid  individualism  that  sees  in 
marriage  nothing  but  a  temporary  contract,  to  be 
dissolved  at  will  in  favor  of  some  new  affinity,  should 

121 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

be  stripped  of  its  fashionable  effrontery  and  branded 
for  what  it  is — a  direct  thrust  at  the  most  sacred  of 
social  institutions  and  a  reversion  to  barbarism.  The 
morbid  tendency  of  some  writers  to  indulge  the  imag- 
ination in  marital  infelicities  and  to  ignore  the  most 
serious  responsibilities  of  the  family  as  a  social  in- 
stitution is  likewise  one  of  the  subtle,  far-reaching 
influences  of  the  day.  The  home  cannot  stand  if 
these  are  to  be  our  teachers. 

(c)  Another  danger,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
pervasive  of  all,  is  the  growth  of  commercialism  and 
a  spirit  of  ostentation.  Whenever  personal  values 
are  subordinated  to  commercial  values,  every  moral 
and  social  interest  is  imperiled ;  and,  most  of  all,  the 
home  and  family  are  unable  to  withstand  this  subver- 
sion of  values.  Whenever  the  desire  for  wealth  and 
luxury,  or  even  the  desire  to  imitate  those  who  have 
these  things,  is  stronger  than  the  desire  for  a  com- 
plete home;  whenever,  in  fact,  a  desire  to  measure 
up  to  the  superficial  standard  of  mere  material  dis- 
play becomes  stronger  than  the  fundamental  and  di- 
vinely implanted  desire  for  a  family — then  has  com- 
mercialism made  its  deadliest  attack  upon  civiliza- 
tion. The  childless  homes  in  which  there  is  no  desire 
for  children,  not  alone  among  the  selfish  rich,  but 
among  a  larger  number  of  their  imitators,  are  indica- 
tive of  far-reaching  perversion  in  social  and  moral 
ideals. 

What  remedy  for  these  evils  can  be  suggested? 
First  of  all,  we  must  understand  that  the  evils  spoken 
of  reflect  false  ideals  and  unspiritual  conceptions  of 
life — a  false  social  creed  that  appears  more  menacing 
in  the  domestic  realm  only  because  of  contrast  with 

122 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

wholesome  Christian  ideals  of  the  family  and  be- 
cause of  the  vital  relation  of  the  family  to  social 
well-being.  But  the  evil  must  be  dealt  with  at  its 
source.  Christian  homes  are  not  going  to  be  made  by 
men  and  women  who  bow  before  the  shrine  of  mam- 
mon or  whose  ideal  of  life  is  that  of  self-indulgence 
and  of  avoidance  of  responsibility  and  sacrifice.  It 
is  most  needful  that  Christian  people  should  think 
clearly  at  this  point  and  should  hold  without  com- 
promise the  ideal  of  the  Christian  family,  refusing 
in  any  wise  to  lend  their  encouragement  or  counte- 
nance to  the  unchristian  and  unsocial  tendencies  in 
popular  thought. 

There  is  need  particularly  that  the  Churches  and 
Sunday  schools  should  interpret  more  thoroughly 
the  laws  of  social  responsibility  and  the  essential 
place  of  the  Christian  family  in  the  social  order  and 
in  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The 
full  light  of  the  gospel  must  be  turned  upon  the  self- 
ish individualism  and  the  sordid  commercialism  that 
undermine  the  foundations  of  society.  The  source  of 
evil  is,  after  all,  in  the  heart;  and  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  which  changes  human  hearts  and  spiritual- 
izes all  things,  is  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  only  ulti- 
mate remedy. 

A  more  thoroughly  awakened  social  conscience  and 
a  more  intelligent  social  understanding  will  serve 
likewise  to  bring  the  problems  of  the  family  into  the 
foreground  and  to  exalt  the  true  ideals  of  the  Chris- 
tian home,  while  it  will  force  organized  society  to 
provide  proper  relief  against  living  and  labor  condi- 
tions that  are  hostile  to  home-making. 

Above  all,  Christian  fathers  and  mothers  must 
123 


THE  CHRISTIAN  FAMILY 

hold  up  for  their  sons  and  daughters  the  proper  con- 
ception of  marriage — the  Christian  ideal.  Parents 
must  teach  their  children  that  marriage  on  a  com- 
mercial basis  is  dishonorable;  that  pure  love  and  a 
purpose  to  take  one's  place  as  a  part  of  God's  plan, 
and  to  make  the  sacrifice  and  render  the  service  of  a 
divinely  appointed  oflSce,  alone  meet  the  Christian 
requirement ;  and  that  no  man  or  woman  comes  wor- 
thily to  the  marriage  altar  that  does  not  come  with 
a  white  life. 

Thought  Questions 

1.  Indicate  the  ways  in  which  the  Christian  family  may 
contribute  to  the  Christianization  of  the  world. 

2.  State  what  you  consider  the  highest  ends  and  obliga- 
tions of  the  Christian  family. 

3.  Point  out  some  of  the  insidious  forces  that  are 
threatening  the  institution  of  the  family,  and  mention 
some  of  the  ways  by  which  the  Church  may  help  to  pre- 
serve the  Christian  ideal  of  the  family. 

124 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH  AND 
OF  INDUSTRY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Mathews,  "The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus." 
Peabody,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question.** 
Rauschenbusch,  "Christianizing  the  Social  Order." 
Ward,    "Poverty    and   Wealth — from    the   Viewpoint   of 
the  Kingdom  of  God." 

Carlton,  "The  Industrial  Situation." 
Rauschenbusch,  "Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH  AND 
OF  INDUSTRY 

We  have  now  arrived  at  a  point  where  we  must 
examine,  as  best  we  may  in  brief  compass,  the  proc- 
ess by  which  the  Christian  religion  is  influencing 
and  is  to  influence  the  ideals  which  men  hold  and  the 
relations  which  they  sustain  to  each  other  in  the 
realm  of  wealth  and  industry.  Here  we  have  to  do 
with  questions  of  the  creation  and  uses  of  wealth 
and  questions  of  social  justice  growing  out  of  the 
existence  of  capital  and  labor. 

We  shall  not  attempt  even  to  suggest  the  many 
forms  in  which  the  social  question  presents  itself, 
nor  shall  we  attempt  to  identify  Christianity  with 
any  of  the  various  political  programs  or  social  pana- 
ceas. There  is  not  room  for  the  former ;  there  is  no 
justification  for  the  latter.  It  is  none  the  less  the 
mission  of  the  Christian  religion  to  continue  to  act 
upon  the  social  order  until  it  shall  become  a  Chris- 
tian order,  and  it  shall  be  our  task  to  try  to  point  out 
the  law  by  which  Christianity  is  to  accomplish  this. 

We  know  that  Jesus  has  not  in  any  wise  undertak- 
en to  forecast  or  to  suggest  the  form  of  industrial  or- 
ganization or  the  methods  to  be  applied  in  the  crea- 
tion and  distribution  of  wealth.  Here,  as  always,  he 
announces  the  underlying  laws  that  are  to  govern  the 
motives  and  the  deeds  of  men.  He  offers  no  hope  of 
social  salvation  by  method  alone,  but  he  introduces 
into  the  world  an  ideal  and  a  motive  power  which  he 

127 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

expects  to  be  effective  in  determining  method  and  in 
shaping  rules  for  the  control  of  all  material  inter- 
ests. 

1.  The  Spiritual  Ideal  of  Life 

The  task,  then,  of  Christianity  in  this  field  is  to 
spiritualize  the  uses  of  the  material — that  is,  to  make 
dominant  the  spiritual  ideal  of  life. 

The  curse  of  practical  materialism  is  not  in  the 
material  things  with  which  men  have  to  deal,  but  in 
the  unspiritual  ideal  of  life  which  determines  how 
these  things  are  held.  This  unspiritual  view  of  life 
assumes  the  supremacy  of  personal  desire.  It  knows 
no  finallaw  but  that  of  selfish  interest  and  therefore 
leads  to  a  course  of  action  unbridled  by  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  welfare  of  others  and  the  will  of  God.  It 
is  this  spirit,  rather  than  the  object  desired,  that 
characterizes  the  worldly  life.  It  is  true  that  the 
chief  means  of  gratifying  selfish  demands  are  apt  to 
be  on  the  plane  of  the  material  and  the  sensuous. 
Nevertheless,  the  supremacy  of  selfish  gratification 
must  be  held  unspiritual,  regardless  of  the  particular 
mode  of  gratification.  This  may  easily  be  shown  to 
be  true,  whether  the  immediate  gratification  be  of 
physical  appetites  and  passions  or  of  the  desire  for 
position,  wealth,  power,  influence,  or  anything  else. 
This  view  of  life  does  not  concern  itself  with  ques- 
tions of  responsibility  and  opportunities  of  service. 
It  does  not  first  ask  of  business  or  industry  how  its 
processes  will  affect  others  or  whether  they  will  be 
contributory  to  the  general  good. 

The  worldly  man  is  in  the  fundamental  sense  an 
unsocial  man.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the  Christian 
religion  he  is  a  sinner,  because  the  law  of  his  life  is 

128 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH 

that  of  selfishness,  which  is  the  very  core  and  essence 
of  the  nnspiritual  and  the  sinful.  He  is  not  of  the 
family  of  God,  because  he  has  not  surrendered  him- 
self to  do  the  will  of  God  and  knows  nothing  of  the 
law  of  devotion  to  the  family  and  of  sacrifice  for  the 
common  good. 

Over  against  this  false  ideal  is  the  spiritual  ideal, 
which  represents  the  Christian  view  of  life.  Accord^ 
ing  to  this  spiritual  view,  the  only  ultimate  values 
are  personal.  The  ultimate  fact  of  existence  is  per- 
sonality. The  ultimate  values  are  personal  charac- 
ter and  the  relationships  existing  between  persons. 
The  complete  spiritual  ideal  of  life  includes  'both  of 
these.  That  is  to  say,  it  is  a  company  of  persons  of 
right  character,  existing  in  right  relation  to  each  oth- 
er and  to  the  Supreme  Person.  This  is  the  kingdom 
of  God,  whether  in  this  world  or  in  any  world.  This 
constitutes  the  Christian  ideal  of  life. 

In  this  kingdom  there  is  one  law  that  harmonizes 
all  and  subordinates  all  to  one  end.  It  is  the  law  of 
the  family,  which  is  the  law  of  loving  obedience  to 
God  and  of  loving  service  to  our  brothers.  What- 
ever interests  of  the  individual  may  be  in  conflict 
with  the  common  good  are  to  be  sacrificed  to  the 
higher  good  of  the  family.  It  is  here  that  one  must 
lose  one's  life  in  order  to  find  it,  for  only  in  such 
sacrifice  and  identification  with  the  interests  of  the 
kingdom  does  the  individual  find  complete  realiza- 
tion of  his  own  highest  life.  This  is  the  significance 
of  denial  of  self  and  the  surrendered  will.  Personal 
surrender  to  Jesus  Christ,  upon  which  the  Christian 
religion  lays  so  much  emphasis,  is  here  seen  to  be 
not  only  of  significance  in  bringing  the  individual 
9  129 


PEOGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

into  harmony  with  the  divine  will,  but  of  social  sig- 
nificance as  well.  It  is,  indeed,  the  essential  condi- 
tion and  foundation  of  a  true  society,  since  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  will  of  God  and  identification  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ  alone  make  possible  a  real  broth- 
erhood among  men.  It  alone  exalts  the  spiritual  in- 
terests of  the  family  and  the  will  of  God  in  his  world 
of  men. 

These  two  kingdoms  are  irreconcilable.  In  one 
self  is  supreme;  in  the  other  Jesus  Christ  is  sover- 
eign. The  law  of  selfishness  in  the  one  is  the  unend- 
ing source  of  conflicts,  wranglings,  envyings,  hatred, 
malice,  and  strife  of  every  sort.  It  is  the  law  of 
the  jungle,  whether  in  the  Congo  or  in  Wall  Street. 
It  leads  to  the  moral  chaos  of  unharmonized  person- 
al interests;  to  commercial,  industrial,  and  even  to 
international  wars.  The  law  of  love  in  the  other  is 
the  law  of  the  synthesis  and  of  perfect  harmony  of 
higher  personal  interests  in  the  will  of  God. 

We  shall  now  attempt  to  suggest  how  this  spirit- 
ual ideal  of  life  comes  to  have  a  practical  bearing 
and  a  transforming  effect  upon  the  world  of  wealth 
and  of  industry.  The  relation  of  wealth  to  subsist- 
ence and  to  a  proper  share  of  every  man  in  the  re- 
sources necessary  to  the  complete  life  and  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  makes  these  problems  of  uni- 
versal and  unescapable  interest.  Here  at  least,  in 
the  demand  for  a  share  in  the  material  necessaries 
of  life,  all  meet  on  a  common  footing.  Here,  in  gen- 
eral, men  are  more  sensitive  to  their  rights  and  more 
tempted  to  invade  the  rights  of  others.  The  strug- 
gle for  material  goods  has  been  the  chief  cause  of 
contention,  strife,  and  wars  from  the  beginning.    At 

130 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH 

the  same  time  it  has  also  been  the  object  in  almost 
all  human  industry.  Naturally  in  this  elemental 
struggle  for  material  things,  when  the  individual 
has  considered  only  his  personal  gain  or  that  of  his 
family  or  class  or  clan,  men  have  been  divided  into 
hostile  and  warring  camps  as  they  have  become  al- 
lied with  this  or  that  material  interest.  Likewise 
they  have  naturally  developed  different  theories  con- 
cerning property  and  industry. 

2.  Christianizing  Wealth 

(1)  The  use  of  ivealth. 

Moral  quality  inheres  neither  in  riches  nor  in  pov- 
erty. Wealth  must  be  tested  by  the  use  to  which  it 
is  put,  by  the  relation  which  the  motive  in  its  use  sus- 
tains to  the  interests  of  the  kingdom.  It  may  be  nec- 
essary, as  the  soldier  girding  himself  for  battle 
throws  aside  all  impediments,  to  renounce  material 
possessions,  the  better  to  do  the  work  of  the  king- 
dom. On  the  other  hand,  one  may  be  called  to  the 
stewardship  of  material  things.  But  here  Jesus 
sounds  an  unmistakable  warning.  It  is  possible  to 
make  and  to  use  wealth  as  a  trustee  for  the  kingdom 
in  the  same  spirit  that  one  might  regard  himself  as 
the  trustee  of  the  truth  or  of  any  power  held  in  trust 
for  the  world.  It  is  possible,  because  all  things  are 
possible  with  God.  But  it  is  extremely  diflacult. 
Nothing  so  tends  to  stimulate  selfishness  and  to  dry 
up  the  warm  currents  of  human  sympathy  as  the 
possession  of  riches.  Not  many  are  able  to  resist 
the  temptation  to  put  money  before  manhood;  to 
forget  that  they  and  all  that  they  possess  belong  to 
the  common  family  of  God,  and  that  their  only  right 

131 


PEOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  it  is  the  right  so  to  hold  it.  Thus  Jesus  says: 
"How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  the 
kingdom!"  One  may  desire  to  serve  God  in  the 
stewardship  of  material  things;  but  let  him  under- 
stand its  danger  and  remember  that  many  have  lost 
their  souls  here  and  made  their  lives  a  curse  and  not 
a  blessing  to  the  world.  Let  him  who  would  walk  in 
this  way  beware  that  wealth,  luxury,  power  do  not 
usurp  the  throne  of  his  heart,  so  that  the  servant 
shall  try  to  make  way  with  the  master's  goods.  The 
Christian  law,  then,  is  not  to  flee  from  material 
things,  but  to  master  them  by  the  spiritual.  But  if 
one  be  unable  to  do  this,  then  let  him  renounce  all ; 
for  "what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  He  who  has  given 
his  soul  for  gold  is  the  poorest  of  the  poor  and  the 
smallest  of  the  small.  The  true  measure  of  a  man  is 
the  measure  of  his  soul  and  of  his  service. 

(2)  The  acquisition  of  ivealth. 

Back  of  the  question  of  the  use  of  wealth  lies  that 
of  the  manner  of  its  acquisition.  No  possible  use  of 
wealth  that  has  been  unjustly  acquired  can  atone  for 
the  unrighteousness  of  its  acquisition.  To  return  as 
a  gift  or  a  charity  that  which  is  taken  by  unfairness 
is  to  despise  honesty  and  to  insult  charity.  There 
can  be  no  stewardship  of  ill-gotten  gain.  There  can 
be  only  repentance  and  restitution. 

Stewardship  of  life  comes  before  stewardship  of 
things.  "We  belong  to  God"  is  first.  And,  second- 
ly, "All  that  we  possess  is  his."  In  accordance  with 
the  first  principle,  the  command  is:  "Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God."  Material  things  will  be  "add- 
ed" as  the  proper  reward  of  service,  but  they  are  not 

132 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH 

to  be  the  chief  consideration.  The  Christian  must 
invest  his  life  in  service  to  the  kingdom.  The  idea 
that  the  business  man  may  concern  himself  primari- 
ly about  the  acquisition  of  property,  provided  he 
give  a  tenth  or  even  more  to  the  Church,  is  essen- 
tially opposed  to  the  spiritual  view  of  life.  To  en- 
courage or  make  compromise  with  this  idea  is  to 
continue  to  build  on  dust  which  returns  to  dust. 

It  is  not  enough  to  reply  that  by  the  very  process- 
es of  acquiring  wealth  men  necessarily  render  serv- 
ice to  society.  It  is  without  question  true  that  a 
certain  service  is  rendered  in  many  of  the  processes 
of  acquiring  wealth,  though  by  no  means  in  all. 
But  the  difference  is  as  wide  as  the  poles  between 
the  life  that  is  inspired  primarily  by  the  spiritual 
ideal  and  that  which  is  actuated  by  the  worldly. 
The  result  on  society  is  correspondingly  great:  one 
makes  for  cooperation,  mutual  helpfulness,  and 
brotherly  love,  while  the  other  leads  to  suspicion, 
conflict,  and  hatred. 

3.  Christianizing  Industry 

(1)  The  industrial  question. 

The  application  of  steam  to  machinery  forced 
hand  workers  out  of  business  and  at  the  same  time 
made  necessary  costly  machinery  which  laborers 
could  not  afford  to  buy.  Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
laborer  was  cut  off  from  the  opportunity  to  work  in- 
dependently with  his  own  tools  and,  on  the  other, 
was  forced  to  enter  the  employment  of  the  factory 
owner  at  a  wage  not  based  on  his  earning  capacity, 
but  on  the  willingness  of  the  employer  to  pay.  The 
only  alternative  was  to  starve.    There  are  two  very 

133 


PEOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

far-reaching  results  of  this  change  in  the  industrial 
order,  which  is  known  as  the  "Industrial  Revolu- 
tion." First,  the  laborer's  economic  freedom  is  lost. 
There  is  left  him  no  option  but  to  enter  the  employ- 
ment of  the  capitalist,  who  owns  the  instruments  of 
industry — that  is,  the  natural  resources  and  the  tools 
of  production.  Second,  with  laborers  competing 
with  each  other  for  a  chance  to  work,  which  is  a 
chance  to  live,  the  employer  is  led  to  base  wages, 
not  on  earning  capacity,  but  on  the  necessities  of  la- 
bor— that  is,  to  pay  the  wage  at  which  he  can  se- 
cure the  laborer  whose  necessity  is  greatest.  This 
tends  always  to  become  a  bare  living  wage.  The  re- 
sult is  that  often  the  earnings  of  labor,  over  and 
above  this  bare  subsistence,  in  addition  to  the  prop- 
er allowance  of  profit  for  the  capital  invested,  go 
into  the  pockets  of  the  employer.  Meanwhile  the 
laborer  has  no  hope  of  getting  beyond  the  struggle 
for  existence  and  the  dread  of  want  when  sickness 
or  old  age  shall  come  or  when  some  circumstance 
shall  deprive  him  of  his  job.  Vast  fortunes  are  thus 
accumulated  by  those  who  have  been  skillful  enough 
to  acquire  or  who  have  inherited  the  initial  capital 
which  gives  them  control  both  of  the  instruments  of 
industry  and  through  these  of  the  labor  of  their 
fellow  men. 

To  those  whose  eyes  have  been  fixed  on  profits  and 
who  have  seen  the  vast  increase  in  the  production  of 
wealth  this  system  has  seemed  ideal,  and  they  have 
not  been  conscious  of  any  particular  social  wrong 
in  their  business.  It  has  seemed  a  matter  of  course 
that  labor  should  be  hired  in  the  cheapest  market 
and  goods  sold  in  the  highest,  and  that  the  profits  of 

134 


THE  CHEISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH 

the  business  should  accrue  to  the  owner  of  the  busi- 
ness. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  laborer,  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  his  own  loss  of  economic  freedom  and  his  own 
small  returns  for  toil  that  he  knows  to  be  highly  pro- 
ductive, condemns  the  system  as  unjust  and  cruel. 
He  observes  the  growing  fortune  of  his  employer, 
which  his  own  toil  is  helping  to  augment.  He  is 
likewise  keenly  conscious  of  his  own  state  of  de- 
pendence and  his  poverty,  from  which  the  system  of- 
fers him  no  hope  of  escape.  He  believes  himself  to 
be  deprived  of  the  just  proportion  of  his  earnings, 
but  he  is  helpless.  He  is  a  victim  and  a  slave  of  the 
system.  The  outcome  is  a  rift  in  human  sympathies 
and  understanding,  the  industrial  chasm  across 
which  men  stare  at  each  other  as  enemies. 

The  next  step  is  that  each  side  organizes  to  defend 
its  supposed  rights.  The  toilers  form  their  labor 
organizations  that  together  they  may  not  be  helpless 
in  the  hands  of  their  employers.  The  employers  also 
combine  and  form  great  corporations  and  associa- 
tions. The  final  outcome  is  that  we  have  to-day  la- 
bor and  capital  organized  into  opposing  camps  and 
on  a  nation-wide  scale,  each  struggling  for  the  con- 
trol of  power,  each  studying  and  contending  for  its 
own  interests. 

It  would  be  easy  to  illustrate  the  conscienceless 
processes  by  which  employers  have  robbed  their 
helpless  employees  and  the  methods  by  which  the 
toilers  have  been  kept  in  subjection.  On  the  other 
hand,  instances  are  not  far  to  seek  in  which  labor 
organizations  have  committed  acts  of  violence  and 
have  disregarded  the  rights  of  others  when  the  power 

135 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

seemed  to  be  in  their  hands.  But  it  does  not  get  us 
anywhere  to  point  out  the  wrong  that  has  been  com- 
mitted by  capital  or  by  labor.  What  else  is  to  be 
expected  in  industrial  war?  Rules  of  war  there  may 
be,  but  these  will  be  broken  when  it  seems  expedient 
for  one  or  the  other  side  to  break  them.  But  war 
at  best  is  violence,  advantage,  trickery,  suspicion, 
hate.  And  the  supreme  condemnation  of  our  pres- 
ent industrial  system  as  unchristian  is  in  its  failure, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  establish  economic  justice  and, 
on  the  other,  in  its  continual  tendency  to  promote 
distrust,  unbrotherliness,  and  conflict  among  men. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  this  system  of  industry,  in 
spite  of  its  wonderful  eflSciency  in  producing  wealth, 
is  coming  more  and  more  under  criticism  in  view  of 
its  human  results?  The  evils  of  the  system  are  only 
too  apparent.  Every  advocate  of  some  new  panacea 
of  social  ills  finds  it  an  easy  matter  to  point  out 
these  ills  and  to  bring  the  present  industrial  system 
under  what  seems  to  be  a  just  condemnation.  Ev- 
ery thoughtful  person  whose  selfish  interest  or  nar- 
row individualism  does  not  blind  him  to  the  future 
welfare  of  society  must  be  keenly  conscious  alike  of 
the  wrongs  and  of  the  dangers  of  the  present  indus- 
trial situation.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  condemn ;  it 
is  quite  another  thing  to  devise  and  to  introduce  a 
better  system. 

(2)  How  the  Christian  religion  deals  with  the  in- 
dustrial question. 

What  answer  has  Christianity  to  give  to  the  in- 
dustrial question? 

The  first  answer  is  that  Christianity  does  not  at- 
tempt to  specify  the  form  or  system  of  industrial  or- 

136 


THE  CHKISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH 

ganization.  At  the  same  time  it  does  throw  the 
light  of  a  new  spirit  upon  every  problem,  and  it  ap- 
plies the  test  of  a  new  standard  to  every  system. 
Manifestly,  so  long  as  men's  primary  concern  is  for 
their  share  in  the  division  of  spoils,  so  long  will  a 
system  obtain  that  puts  things  above  people.  The 
money  measurement,  as  the  supreme  standard  of 
values,  necessarily  divides  men  into  snarling  packs 
who  strive  with  and  destrc^y  each  other  for  the 
spoils.  But  Christianity  insists  upon  the  human, 
the  spiritual  tests.  It  asks  of  any  system  or  order : 
Does  it  provide  the  best  possible  conditions  under 
which  all  the  people  may  realize  their  fullest  life? 
Does  it  guard  the  interest  of  the  weak  as  well  as  of 
the  strong?  Does  it  tend  to  make  good  men  and  to 
help  them  to  become  brothers?  The  human  standard 
of  values  is  the  standard  of  love,  which  ^^seeketh  not 
its  own,"  but  unites  men  in  the  bonds  of  mutual 
service  and  sympathetic  fellowship  and  leads  to  con- 
fidence and  cooperation. 

The  second  answer  is  that  Christianity  teaches 
that  no  system,  however  perfect  in  its  arrangements, 
can  of  itself  make  good  men  or  create  in  them  the 
spirit  of  justice  and  brotherhood.  And  no  system 
can  be  a  good  system  unless  it  is  operated  by  good 
men.  One  group  of  selfish  men  may  succeed  in  over- 
throwing another  group  of  selfish  men  and  in  gain- 
ing what  they  regard  as  their  rights.  But  the  self- 
ish group  that  proves  itself  the  stronger  will  succeed 
only  in  establishing  another  form  of  wrong  and  op- 
pression. Justice  will  not  originate  with  the  un- 
just. But  the  hope  of  a  better  world,  the  hope  of 
victory  for  justice  and  human  rights,  is  with  those 

137 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

who  overthrow  selfishness  by  love  and  who  regard 
duty  and  justice  to  others  as  even  more  insistent 
demands  upon  them  than  the  defense  of  their  own 
rights.  For  it  may  sometimes  be  right  to  forego  the 
latter,  but  one  cannot  deny  or  disregard  duty  to 
others  without  violating  the  highest  instincts  of  the 
soul. 

The  third  answer  is  that  it  is  the  mission  of  the 
Christian  religion  to  continue  to  transform  the  so- 
cial order  until  it  shall  become  a  Christian  order. 
It  is  not  enough  to  satisfy  the  enlightened  con- 
science of  those  who  realize  their  social  responsibil- 
ity to  say  that  any  order  or  system  in  the  hands  of 
good  men  is  shorn  of  its  worst  features.  If  the  sys- 
tem is  evil,  it  must  be  changed.  The  fact  is  that 
in  so  far  as  a  system  is  bad  it  must  be  assumed  to  be 
the  expression  of  the  spirit  that  created  it.  It 
would  not,  therefore,  easily  become  the  medium 
through  which  a  different  spirit  could  manifest  it- 
self, which  is  to  say  that  in  the  hands  of  good  men 
a  bad  system  would  have  to  be  transformed  to  meet 
the  demands  of  goodness;  it  would  have  to  become 
the  appropriate  medium  for  the  expression  of  jus- 
tice and  brotherly  love.  It  is  precisely  this  which 
Christianity  is  to  accomplish.  If  men  who  have 
struggled  for  gain  have  created  a  system  which 
breathes  the  spirit  of  its  creators  and  neglects  hu- 
man values,  shall  not  they  that  struggle  for  the  king- 
dom of  God,  for  the  life  of  God's  humanity,  trans- 
form the  system  until  it  shall  become  the  instrument 
of  service  and  the  medium  through  which  the  spirit 
of  a  new  brotherhood  may  reveal  itself  ? 

In  so  far  as  society  becomes  dominated  by  men 
138 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  WEALTH 

with  the  spirit  of  Jesus  will  practices,  methods,  and 
systems  become  increasingly  conformed  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  kingdom  of  God.  For  the  meth- 
ods and  processes  of  society  will  eventually  become 
the  organized  expression  of  the  inner  spirit  and 
ideals  of  its  members.  The  two  processes  of  making 
better  men  and  creating  a  better  order  in  society  are 
not  to  be  separated.  They  go  forward  together, 
each  reenforcing  the  other.  But  the  original  and 
creative  dynamic  in  making  better  men  and  a  better 
society  is  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  by 
which  men  come  to  share  in  the  spirit  and  likeness 
of  Jesus. 

Thought  duestions 

1.  How  much  of  life  ought  to  be  brought  within  the 
realm  of  the  spiritual? 

2.  What  have  the  Christian  people  to  do  with  the  prob- 
lems of  just  wages  and  the  proper  conditions  of  labor? 

3.  What  is  to  be  said  of  the  Church  official  who,  how- 
ever liberal  in  his  gifts  to  the  Church,  makes  his  money- 
through  the  exploitation  of  the  weak  and  the  ignorant? 

4.  To  what  extent  may  we  hope  that  the  Christian  re- 
ligion will  ultimately  solve  the  problems  of  industry? 

139 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 


BIBLIOGKAPHY 

Peabody,  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question.* 

Batten,  "The  Christian  State." 

Mathews,  "The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus." 

Abbott,  "Christianity  and  Social  Problems." 

King,  "Fundamental  Questions." 

Brown,  "Is  Christianity  Practicable?" 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

The  kingdom  of  God  represents  a  social  ideal  and 
stands  for  the  creation  of  a  new  humanity.  We  are, 
therefore,  clearly  within  the  proper  scope  of  the  pro- 
gram of  the  Christian  religion  when  we  enter  upon 
the  consideration  of  the  Christianization  of  the  State. 

It  cannot  be  fairly  held  that  Jesus  is  authority  for 
any  particular  order  or  theory  of  government,  for 
he  did  not  undertake  to  change  human  life  by  be- 
ginning with  the  reconstruction  of  its  institutions. 
He  distinctly  refused  to  state  his  ideals  of  life  in 
terms  of  outward  forms.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
illustrates  how  always  he  emphasized  the  inward- 
ness of  the  principles  of  the  kingdom.  But  because 
he  emphasized  the  fountain  source  of  conduct  in  the 
heart,  it  would  be  absurd  to  argue  that  Jesus  dis- 
regarded conduct  itself.  It  is  because,  as  he  him- 
self was  careful  to  explain,  "out  of  the  heart  are  the 
issues  of  life"  that  he  sought  to  determine  those  is- 
sues from  within. 

When,  on  the  other  hand,  we  inquire  what  there 
is  in  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  as  set  forth  by  Jesus 
that  must  sooner  or  later  reach  to  the  State  and  ef- 
fect the  conception  of  the  functions  of  the  State  and 
the  form  of  political  government,  then  we  find  our- 
selves facing  no  single  or  merely  incidental  utter- 
ance regarding  political  affairs,  but  we  are  confront- 
ed with  the  essential  teachings  of  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom. 

143 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Thus  while  Jesus  began  at  the  opposite  pole  from 
that  of  political  reconstruction,  his  teaching  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  kingdom  of  God  was  in  the  end 
to  prove  the  most  revolutionary  doctrine  ever 
preached.  For  he  presents  a  new  and  an  absolute 
standard  of  values,  a  new  center  of  life,  and  a  new 
object  of  allegiance.  He  asserts  that  the  ultimate 
values  are  those  of  personal  character  and  social 
righteousness.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  a  society  in 
which  the  will  of  a  just  and  loving  Father  is  the  law 
of  its  members.  And  loyalty  to  this  kingdom  must 
be  supreme.  While,  therefore,  the  Christian  reli- 
gion cannot  be  said  to  stand  for  any  particular  form 
of  government,  the  influence  of  its  ideal  and  spirit 
inevitably  comes  to  bear  upon  the  State,  whatever 
its  form,  and  tends  to  change  that  form  into  har- 
mony with  its  own  inner  spirit  and  ideal.  It  sup- 
plies the  power  of  an  insistent  moral  ideal  that 
makes  for  public  service  and  for  righteousness  in 
all  civic  affairs. 

The  answer  to  the  question,  "What  is  the  best  gov- 
ernment in  any  place  and  at  any  time?"  will  depend 
upon  the  character  of  the  citizenship.  The  best 
form  of  government,  when  the  great  majority  are 
honest  Christian  men,  may  be  the  worst  possible 
form  when  the  control  of  public  affairs  is  in  the 
hands  of  corrupt  officials  and  where  the  sense  of 
civic  righteousness  and  responsibility  is  weak  in  the 
citizenship.  Government  will  doubtless  continue  to 
evolve  as  the  spirit  of  Christ  comes  more  and  more 
to  prevail  among  the  people,  but  the  perfect  form  of 
government  can  come  only  when  there  is  a  perfect 
citizenship.     Just  in  proportion  as  citizens  attain 

144 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

the  spirit  of  true  brotherhood  will  the  govemment  of 
the  State  harmonize  with  the  ideals  and  laws  of  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

When  the  question  is  raised,  "How  far  is  it  wise 
to  extend  government  service?"  Christianity  does  not 
necessarily  have  to  decide  with  the  Socialist,  who 
demands  that  all  instruments  of  industry  shall  be 
owned  by  the  State,  or  with  those  on  the  other  ex- 
treme who  object  to  any  further  extension  of  the 
functions  of  government.  It  may  be  urged  that  gov- 
ernment may  not  undertake  this  or  that  public  serv- 
ice because  of  the  opportunity  and  temptation  it  will 
afford  for  graft  or  failure  through  lack  of  a  sense  of 
public  responsibility.  And  such  objection  may,  in- 
deed, have  good  ground  for  the  time.  But  Chris- 
tianity changes  government  by  changing  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  The  ultimate  question  in  government, 
therefore,  will  not  be  how  to  protect  the  public 
against  the  grafter,  but  how  a  company  of  citizens, 
sincerely  desiring  to  render  the  largest  service  to 
the  community  or  the  nation,  can  best  achieve  that 
purpose.  Thus  we  may  expect  that  the  State  will 
more  and  more  become  the  trusted  servant  of  the 
people  as  the  people  come  to  have  the  spirit  of  serv- 
ice and  the  sense  of  public  duty. 

The  function  of  the  Christian  religion  in  govem- 
ment is,  therefore,  spiritual^  creating  ideals  that 
ever  enlarge  and  ennoble  the  conception  of  govem- 
ment and  keeping  the  motive  pure  and  the  aim  di- 
rected to  the  highest  service  of  all  the  people.  It  is 
a  dynamic  operating  to  re-create  the  State  in  spirit 
and  in  form  until  the  form  serves  the  spirit  and  the 
spirit  is  that  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
10  145 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

1,  The  Christianization  of  the  State  in  Community 
Ideals 

Here  we  face  immediately  one  of  the  most  serious 
problems  of  American  life.  Our  municipal  govern- 
ment has  been  notoriously  inefficient  and  corrupt. 
The  political  ring  that  in  so  many  of  our  cities  has 
organized  the  ignorant  and  the  vicious  elements  of 
the  community,  catering  to  the  very  worst  instincts 
of  human  nature  and  intrenching  itself  behind  ram- 
parts of  a  venal  electorate  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
graft  of  the  powerful  interests  on  the  other,  is  per- 
haps the  most  conspicuous  disgrace  in  our  American 
civilization  and  constitutes  a  challenge  to  the  Chris- 
tian citizenship  to  destroy  it,  root  and  branch.  When 
vile  men  are  exalted  to  positions  of  responsibility, 
when  young  men  are  led  to  think  that  the  way  of 
promotion  is  through  courting  the  support  of  the 
corrupt  gang,  when  business  men  seek  to  further 
their  own  interests  by  joining  the  system  that  fat- 
tens by  favoring  its  supporters,  then  indeed  is  the 
very  foundation  of  public  morals  decayed  and  or- 
ganized corruption  become  a  menace  to  public  wel- 
fare. 

To  the  Christian  the  most  humiliating  aspect  of 
this  corruption  in  community  affairs  must  be  that  it 
has  existed  side  by  side  with  a  vast  array  of  Church 
organizations  and  with  a  Church  membership  so 
large  as  to  be  able  to  control  the  affairs  of  local  gov- 
ernment whenever  its  entire  strength  should  be  unit- 
ed. Yet  it  is  fair  to  say  that  the  public  who  believe 
in  honest,  clean  government  are  in  the  majority, 
even  when  the  corrupt  element  is  in  control,  and 

146 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

that  there  is  latent  moral  energy  enough  in  almost 
any  community  to  assume  control,  if  it  be  but 
aroused,  organized,  and  intelligently  directed. 

Two  things  are  necessary.  First,  there  must  he  an 
aioakening  of  the  civic  conscience  on  the  part  of  the 
Christian  community.  The  Christian  people  must 
be  educated  to  understand  their  responsibility  for 
the  community  welfare.  Indifference  at  this  point 
must  be  seen  to  be,  what  it  is  in  fact,  immoral  and 
unchristian.  And  the  energies  of  an  awakened 
Christian  conscience  must  be  directed  to  the  over- 
throw of  iniquity  and  to  the  establishment  of  right- 
eousness in  the  civic  life  of  the  people.  Nothing  is 
more  needed  from  the  pulpit  to-day  than  a  ringing 
message  on  the  obligations  of  Christian  citizenship. 
Indifference  to  civic  unrighteousness  is  indifference 
to  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Second,  there  is  need  for  the  leadership  in  civiG 
affairs  of  the  best  and  most  capable  Christian  men 
in  the  community.  It  is  not  enough  that  Christian 
people  should  desire  to  vote  right.  They  must  be 
led  right.  Here  is  where  the  sheep  have  been  so  of- 
ten left  to  the  wolves.  Those  who  ought  to  have 
been  protectors  and  leaders  of  the  people  have  not 
been  willing  to  make  the  sacrifice  of  time  and  of 
business  interest  necessary  to  oppose  the  political 
corruptionists.  They  have  not  considered  it  a  pub- 
lic duty  to  stand  for  public  office,  especially  when 
private  business  has  been  more  lucrative.  Men 
whose  influence  has  been  necessary  to  overthrow  the 
corrupt  organization  have  been  too  cowardly  to  risk 
the  possible  injury  to  their  own  business.  One  of 
the  most  disheartening  things  in  some  communities 

147 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAK  RELIGION 

is  to  see  men  promment  in  Church  affairs  thus  indi- 
rectly supporting  public  iniquity  because  they  are 
so  involved  in  business  with  the  existing  order  of 
things  that  they  are  no  longer  morally  independent 
and  lack  the  courage  to  stand  up  for  clean,  right- 
eous government,  regardless  of  consequences.  The 
great  need  of  the  Christian  Church  to-day  is  for  a 
new  company  of  martyrs — those  who  bear  witness  to 
the  truth,  not  by  shedding  their  blood  in  its  defense, 
but  by  jeopardizing  their  business  and  suffering  the 
loss  of  all  things,  if  necessary,  in  order  that  right- 
eousness may  prevail. 

It  would  be  unfair  to  end  this  discussion  of  com- 
munity government  here.  There  is  the  bright  side 
also.  The  battle  has  been  fought  and  won  for  right- 
eousness in  many  local  communities  where  the 
Christian  people  are  awake  to  their  civic  duty.  More 
and  more  the  local  government  in  such  communities 
is  coming  to  reflect  the  Christian  spirit  of  service 
and  of  consideration  for  the  physical  and  moral 
well-being  of  all  the  people.  Even  where  the  battle 
has  not  been  won  the  fight  is  on,  and  the  word  has 
gone  forth  that  it  shall  not  cease  until  righteous- 
ness prevails.  Christians  are  turning  from  a  one- 
sided, individualistic  faith  to  see  that  the  gospel  has 
also  its  social  bearing.  They  are  beginning  to  see 
that  the  Church  cannot  save  the  world  when  the 
Christian  people  refuse  to  become  the  leaven  that 
transforms  the  world,  and  that  an  organized  iniqui- 
ty in  the  form  of  community  government  may  do 
more  to  debauch  and  ruin  a  city  than  all  the  Church- 
es can  do  to  save  it. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  people  of  the  Church- 
148 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

es  Iiave  declared  that  their  government  shall  not 
participate  in  the  iniquity  of  the  saloon  and  in  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage.  And  it 
is  because  they  are  awake  to  the  enormity  of  this 
evil  that  this  traffic  is  doomed.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  the  unspeakable  shame  of  the  participation  of 
our  cities  in  the  growth  of  the  social  evil  is  being 
brought  to  light,  and  public  conscience  cannot  hence- 
forth be  satisfied  until  city  governments  have  been 
purged  of  this  iniquity.  It  is  because  the  people  of 
moral  conscience  are  awake  to  their  civic  duty  and 
because  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  spreading  abroad  that 
citizens  are  organizing  to  make  local  government 
Christian  in  rendering  a  just  and  helpful  service  to 
the  community  and  in  furthering  everything  that 
makes  for  the  fuller  and  richer  life  of  the  people. 
WJien  the  government  in  our  local  communities  shall 
have  been  Christianized^  another  long  step  will  have 
heen  taken  in  demonstration  of  the  power  of  Chris- 
tianity  to  undergird  the  moral  life  of  the  world  and 
to  make  actual  the  kingdom  and  family  of  God  in 
the  earth. 

2.  The  Christianization  of  National  Ideals 

We  have  already  noted  the  influence  of  Christiani- 
ty in  revolutionizing  governments  and  in  making  the 
State  responsive  to  the  growth  of  Christian  ideals. 
It  is  not  claimed  that  Christianity  is  the  only  influ- 
ence making  for  democracy ;  but  the  powerful  influ- 
ence of  the  Christian  religion  can  undoubtedly  be 
traced  in  many  of  the  great  national  uprisings  in 
behalf  of  popular  government,  and  this  even  when  a 

149 


PROGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Church  dominated  by  the  State  has  been  found  in 
opposition  to  liberal  movements. 

When  we  turn  to  our  own  national  government, 
we  find  much  in  the  spirit  of  our  Constitution  and 
in  the  general  ideals  that  underlie  our  national  in- 
stitutions that  is  truly  representative  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  circumstances  under  which  our 
national  government  was  founded  and  the  men  who 
laid  its  foundations  are  the  reasons.  The  American 
government  was  the  outcome  of  a  long  struggle  for 
freedom  of  conscience  and  political  liberty,  and  the 
men  who  builded  the  framework  of  our  national  gov- 
ernment were  sincerely  desirous  of  building  it  so  as 
to  safeguard  the  rights  of  all  the  people  and  to  serve 
the  true  ends  of  public  welfare. 

The  American  people  have  cause  to  be  gratified  at 
the  high  type  of  men  who  have  filled  the  first  oflSce 
in  the  government.  In  the  main,  we  have  learned 
to  expect  honest  service  in  the  administration  of 
government  affairs  and  impartial  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  the  courts.  Our  legislative  branch  of  gov- 
ernment has  perhaps  commanded  less  general  confi- 
dence, since  here  has  been  felt  the  strongest  pull  of 
special  interests.  Here  is  where  corrupt  local  gov- 
ernment, through  its  representative,  becomes  a  men- 
ace to  the  general  government.  Here  is  where  gov- 
ernment representatives  are  made  most  strongly  to 
feel  the  influence  of  local  constituencies,  and  hence 
it  is  in  our  legislative  halls  that  national  interests 
are  constantly  imperiled  by  the  selfish  demand  of 
private  corporations  and  of  corrupt  or  narrow  local 
communities. 

The  Christianization  of  the  national  government 
150 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

is  thus  tied  up  with  the  Christianizatlon  of  the  local 
government.  The  Christian  ideal  requires  that  pri- 
vate and  local  interests  he  subordinated  to  the  gen- 
eral good.  It  demands  likewise  that  a  man  he  a- 
Christian  hefore  he  he  a  Repuhlican,  a  Democrat,  a 
Progressive,  or  a  Socialist,  That  is  to  say,  while 
Christianity  does  not  undertake  to  decide  between 
honest  political  differences,  it  does  require  that 
Christian  citizens  shall  place  the  good  of  the  nation 
and  the  service  of  all  the  people  above  mere  party 
loyalty  if  the  one  comes  into  conflict  with  the  other. 
This  is  only  another  application  of  the  doctrine  of 
supremacy  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  as  immoral 
to  make  the  interest  of  a  political  party  supreme  as 
it  is  to  give  the  first  place  to  the  interest  of  a  cor- 
poration or  of  an  individual.  Once  more  we  must 
remind  ourselves  that  the  government  will  not  rise 
above  its  source  in  the  ideals  and  character  of  the 
people.  The  Christianizatlon  of  national  govern- 
ment will  keep  pace  with  the  Christianizatlon  of  the 
nation,  while  the  weakness  and  the  sins  of  the  peo- 
ple will  continue  to  be  reflected  in  the  government. 

3.  Christianizing  International  Ideals  and 
Eelationships 

In  speaking  of  the  brutality  and  horrible  results 
of  the  great  world  war  and  its  breaking  down  of  na- 
tional morals  and  international  ideals.  Dr.  Henry 
Churchill  King  says:  "If  a  man  estimates  that  toll 
and  still  thinks  it  is  to  be  taken  as  a  matter  of  course 
that  a  like  war  should  soon  occur  and  that  its  sole 
and  chief  lesson  for  a  nation  is  the  building  up  of 
huge  armaments,  he  thereby  proclaims  himself  an 

151 


PROGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

enemy  of  mankind."^  In  the  face  of  this  existing 
reign  of  terror  in  so  large  a  part  of  the  nominally 
Christian  world,  this  situation  that  we  cannot  dis- 
regard in  the  discussion  of  this  subject  if  we  would, 
what  has  Christianity  to  say?  Must  we  here  sur- 
render the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God  to  the  pow- 
ers of  evil  and  of  brute  force  and  join  the  chorus  of 
those  who  have  been  quick  to  cry  out,  "Christianity 
has  failed"?  Must  we  surrender  henceforth  all  hope 
of  the  world  in  which  righteousness  and  brotherly 
love  are  to  triumph  and  build  our  hope  henceforth 
on  the  deification  of  material  force?  or  are  we  pre- 
pared to  take  our  stand  with  Dr.  King  in  the  asser- 
tion that  to  hold  this  position  is  to  proclaim  our- 
selves enemies  of  mankind  ? 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  specific  causes 
and  issues  of  the  worst  of  all  wars.  But  the  propor- 
tions of  this  world  tragedy  need  not  cause  us  to  hes- 
itate to  reafiSrm  our  confidence  in  the  changeless 
ideals  and  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  No  impar- 
tial student  of  history  will  hold  that  the  ideals  and 
spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  are  in  any  sense  re- 
sponsible for  the  war.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is 
that  Christianity  failed  to  prevent  it.  But  this  is 
enough  to  force  us  to  ask :  "Why  did  it  fail  to  pre- 
vent it?" 

So  far  from  being  a  question  that  we  must  face 
with  despair,  this  question  has  latent  within  it  the 
suggestion  of  the  answer  and  the  promise  that  Chris- 
tianity shall  not  always  fail  in  international  af- 
fairs.   It  would  never  occur  to  any  one  to  ask  why 

** 'Fundamental  Questions/'  King,  pp.  214,  215. 
152 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

the  religions  that  prevailed  in  Europe  before  the 
coming  of  Christianity  did  not  soften  the  warlike 
tendencies  of  the  people.  On  the  contrary,  these  re- 
ligions fostered  the  ideals  and  spirit  of  war.  But 
the  suggestion  that  Christianity  has  failed  to  pre- 
vent war  is  a  frank  recognition  that  whatever  mor- 
al power  there  is  in  Christianity  is  on  the  side  op- 
posing the  order  of  things  that  seems  for  the  time 
to  be  triumphant  in  the  earth.  Why  do  people  feel 
so  strongly  to-day  that  war  between  nations  is  ab- 
normal? Why  the  growing  conviction  that  justice 
between  nations  and  mutual  regard  of  rights  are  both 
possible  and  to  be  expected?  And  why  this  point- 
ing at  the  present  time  to  Christianity's  failure  to 
realize  this  ideal  among  the  nations  if  not  because 
of  the  tacit  admission  of  all  that  Christianity  has 
been  the  supreme  source  of  these  growing  ideals  of 
peace  and  of  the  federation  of  the  nations?  Why 
point  to  Christianity  at  this  hour  if  it  is  not  the 
Christian  religion  that  has  given  men  those  very 
ideals  of  international  good  will  which  as  yet  have 
not  become  dominant  in  the  world  ? 

What  we  are  considering  here  is  not  simply  the 
cessation  of  war  between  nations,  but  the  establish- 
ment of  the  principles  of  international  righteous- 
ness, which  alone  will  make  peace  possible.  To  ex- 
alt the  ideal  of  peace  while  disregarding  the  de- 
mands of  righteousness  is  neither  Christian  nor  hon- 
orable. 

In  trying  to  suggest  in  part  the  answer  to  the 
question  why  Christianity  has  not  yet  been  able  to 
prevent  war,  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
Christianity  has  not  so  far  transformed  the  ideals 

153 


PEOGKAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  laws  that  govern  nations  in  their  relations  to 
each  other.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  population,  even  in  the  so-called 
Christian  countries,  are  not  Christians  and  that  the 
counsel  of  these  has  prevailed  in  international  af- 
fairs. Candor  compels  us  to  recognize  the  fact  that 
Christian  ideals  regarding  the  State  have  not  been 
generally  held  among  Christian  people.  This  need 
not  seem  strange  when  we  remember  the  evils  that 
have  grown  out  of  a  purely  individualistic  interpre- 
tation of  Christianity.  When  we  have  seen  consci- 
entious men  calling  Jesus  Lord,  trusting  in  him  for 
salvation,  and  yet  wholly  at  ease  in  the  midst  of  the 
reign  of  all  manner  of  evil  in  their  local  communi- 
ty, for  which  by  their  negligence  they  were  responsi- 
ble, we  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  same  blindness 
to  the  wider  implications  of  the  gospel  has  kept  men 
from  seeing  that  the  requirements  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  are  as  absolute  in  the  relations  that  exist  be- 
tween nations  as  in  those  that  exist  between  individ- 
uals. 

Speaking  of  the  civilization  of  the  future.  Dr. 
King  says  truly :  "No  small  part  of  the  horror  of  the 
present  war  and  its  most  threatening  danger  have 
grown  out  of  the  utterly  pagan  theory  that  nations 
were  above  morality  and  not  responsible  to  God. 
The  new  civilization  we  may  trust,  therefore,  will 
be  a  humble  and  a  repentant  civilization."  Here, 
then,  we  are  dealing  with  a  realm  of  ideals  that  have 
never  been  Christianized.  The  gods  that  made  war 
still  make  war,  and  the  nations  in  the  name  of  Chris- 
tianity are  still  imploring  their  national  deities. 
For  the  doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of  national  inter- 

154 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

ests,  with  disregard  of  national  responsibility,  must 
be  held  as  fundamentally  immoral  and  just  as  essen- 
tially opposed  to  the  spirit  and  ideals  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  as  is  that  of  the  exaltation  of  the  self- 
ish interest  of  the  individual  or  clan  or  party  in  op- 
position to  the  wider  rights  and  welfare  of  humanity. 

The  permanence  of  world  peace  must  be  laid  in 
what  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  has  called  "the  inter- 
national mind/'  which  he  defines  as  "nothing  else 
than  the  habit  of  thinking  of  foreign  relations  and 
business  and  that  habit  of  dealing  with  them  which 
regards  the  several  nations  of  the  civilized  world  as 
friendly  and  cooperating  equals  in  aiding  the  prog- 
ress of  civilization,  in  developing  commerce  and  in- 
dustry, and  in  spreading  enlightenment  and  culture 
throughout  the  world."  But  the  basis  of  this  inter- 
national mind  is  to  be  laid  in  those  conceptions  of 
the  dignity  and  worth  of  all  men  as  sons  of  God  and 
in  the  sense  of  justice  and  brotherly  love  for  which 
the  Christian  religion  stands.  It  is  to  be  laid  in  the 
consciousness  of  men  who  have  come  to  know  the 
mind  and  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  and  who  hold  them- 
selves citizens  of  the  world,  daring  to  stand  for  the 
supremacy  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Nationalism,  untempered  by  the  spirit  of  justice 
and  fairness  toward  other  nations,  stands  in  antago- 
nism to  any  ideal  and  hope  of  a  brotherhood  of  the 
nations  and  in  hostility  to  any  rational  basis  for 
permanent  world  peace.  For  it  cannot  be  that  in  an 
age  of  world  life  and  of  the  complex  interplay  of 
world  interests  nations  can  live  together  in  peace 
when  the  law  of  national  selfishness  and  disregard  of 
national  obligations  is  regnant  among  them. 

155 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

But  let  us  turn  our  faces  to  the  dawn.  In  the 
midst  of  the  deepest  darkness  there  are  signs  of  the 
daybreak.  The  passion  for  peace  founded  on  right- 
eousness was  never  so  strong.  Even  in  the  midst 
of  the  all-but-unprecedented  violation  of  national 
rights  there  has  never  been  such  a  rapid  sweep  of 
public  thought  in  the  direction  of  the  necessity  for 
international  justice  and  the  development  of  such 
concern  for  the  common  interest  of  the  entire  world 
as  there  has  been  in  recent  months.  It  would  seem 
that  God  is  opening  the  eyes  of  the  nations  to  under- 
stand that  he  means  to  build  a  kingdom  whose  foun- 
dations are  laid  in  righteousness  and  into  which  all 
peoples  are  to  be  gathered. 

We  must  remember,  too,  that  while  Christian 
ideals  have  not  been  dominant  in  international  mat- 
ters, there  have  been  many  Christian  statesmen  and 
multitudes  of  Christian  people  who  have  long  be- 
lieved in  the  application  of  Christian  principles  to 
all  questions  of  the  State,  local,  national,  and  inter- 
national. As  for  America,  the  following  quotations, 
which  are  representative  of  the  best  type  of  Ameri- 
can statesmanship,  are  given  as  indicating  the  prog- 
ress that  has  already  been  made  toward  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  American  ideals  of  national  and  inter- 
national relations  and  as  an  earnest  of  the  day  when 
these  ideals  shall  rule  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 

At  the  third  Pan-American  Conference,  held  in 
Rio  de  Janeiro  July  31,  1906,  Mr.  Root,  then  our 
Secretary  of  State,  declared : 

We  wish  for  no  victories  but  those  of  peace,  for  no 
territory  except  our  own,  for  no  sovereignty  except 
the  sovereignty  of  ourselves.     We  deem  the  Inde- 

156 


THE  CHRISTIANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE 

pendence  and  equal  rights  of  the  smallest  and  weak- 
est member  of  the  family  of  nations  entitled  to  as 
much  respect  as  those  of  the  greatest  empire,  and 
we  deem  the  observance  of  that  respect  the  chief 
guarantee  of  the  weak  against  the  oppression  of  the 
strong.  We  neither  claim  nor  desire  any  rights  or 
privileges  or  powers  that  we  do  not  freely  concede  to 
every  American  republic. 

President  Wilson  has  repeatedly,  and  most  con- 
spicuously in  his  great  address  to  Congress  on  April 
2,  1917,  affirmed  the  principle  of  national  duties  as 
well  as  national  rights.    On  that  occasion  he  said : 

We  are  at  the  beginning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will 
be  insisted  that  the  same  standards  of  conduct  and 
responsibility  for  wrong  done  shall  be  observed 
among  the  nations  and  their  governments  that  are 
observed  among  the  individual  citizens  of  civilized 
States. 

We  have  further  gratification  in  that  these  prin- 
ciples, as  set  forth  by  Mr.  Root  and  Mr.  Wilson,  have 
not  infrequently  been  acted  upon  by  the  American 
government,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  return  of  the 
Boxer  indemnity  fund,  and  that  they  have  been  in- 
sisted upon  in  the  Hague  Conference  and  elsewhere. 

As  illustrating  the  advance  of  the  American  ideal 
toward  an  unequivocal  Christian  position,  there  is 
added  below  the  formal  action  on  January  6,  1916, 
of  the  American  Institute  of  International  Law,  con- 
sisting of  representatives  of  each  of  the  American 
republics : 

Every  nation  has  the  right  to  exist  and  to  pro- 
tect and  to  conserve  its  existence;  but  this  right  nei- 
ther implies  the  right  nor  justifies  the  act  of  the 
State  to  protect  itself  or  to  conserve  its  existence 

157 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

by  the  commission  of  unlawful  acts  against  innocent 
and  unoffending  States. 

Every  nation  has  the  right  to  independence  in  the 
sense  that  it  has  a  right  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness 
and  is  free  to  develop  itself  without  interference  or 
control  from  other  States ;  provided,  that  in  so  doing 
it  does  not  interfere  with  or  violate  the  rights  of  oth- 
er States. 

Every  nation  is,  in  law  and  before  law,  the  equal 
of  every  other  nation  belonging  to  the  society  of  na- 
tions; and  all  nations  have  the  right  to  claim  and, 
according  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  the 
United  States,  ^^to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the 
earth  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them." 

Every  nation  has  the  right  to  territory  within  de- 
fined boundaries  and  to  exercise  exclusive  jurisdic- 
tion over  its  territory  and  all  persons,  whether  na- 
tive or  foreign,  found  therein. 

Every  nation  entitled  to  a  right  by  the  law  of  na- 
tions is  entitled  to  have  that  right  respected  and 
protected  by  all  other  nations;  for  right  and  duty 
are  correlative,  and  the  right  of  one  is  the  duty  of 
all  to  observe. 

International  law  is  at  one  and  the  same  time  both 
national  and  international :  national  in  the  sense 
that  it  is  the  law  of  the  land  and  aijplicable  as  such 
to  the  decision  of  all  questions  involving  its  princi- 
ples; international  in  the  sense  that  it  is  the  law  of 
the  society  of  nations  and  applicable  as  such  to  all 
questions  between  and  among  the  members  of  the 
society  of  nations  involving  principles. 

The  Christian  religion  continues  the  insistent  and 
inspiring  source  of  these  ideals  of  international 
righteousness,  and  we  have  reason  to  hope  that  the 
principles  already  held  by  the  foremost  Christian 
statesmen  of  the  world  shall  some  day  become  opera- 
tive in  the  councils  of  the  nations. 

158 


CHAPTER  X 
TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Coe,  "Education  in  Religion  and  Morals." 
Atkins,  "The  Kingdom  in  the  Cradle." 
Chappell,  "Building  the  Kingdom." 
Faunce,  "The  Educational  Ideal  in  the  Ministry." 
Home,  "Psychological  Principles  of  Education." 
Coe,  "The  Spiritual  Life." 

Barclay,  "The  Pupil,  the  Teacher,  and  the  School." 
Cope,    "The   Modem   Sunday   School   and   Its   Present- 
Day  Task." 

Faunce,  "What  Does  Christianity  Mean?" 


CHAPTER  X 
TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

In  the  effort  thus  far  to  suggest  the  outlines  of 
the  program  of  the  Christian  religion  the  thought 
has  constantly  been  kept  in  view  that  this  is  not  a 
formal  but  a  vital  program.  It  is  the  Christian  reli- 
gion at  work  in  the  world,  going  forth  into  all  lands 
and  affecting  human  life  at  every  point,  in  every 
manner  of  its  being  and  of  its  expression.  The  end 
is  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  We 
have  been  trying  to  study  Christianity  on  its  way  to 
this  end.  This  has  necessarily  involved  a  discussion 
of  the  field  or  scope  of  its  activity,  whether  in  its  be- 
ginnings among  non-Christian  people,  in  its  creation 
of  the  Christian  community  and  its  gradual  trans- 
formation of  a  people;  whether  in  its  effect  on  the 
individual,  the  family,  industry  and  business,  the 
State,  or  on  the  whole  of  human  society. 

In  discussing  in  this  chapter  the  training  of  the 
coming  generation  we  have  under  consideration  the 
supreme  opportunity  and  the  most  important  means 
of  bringing  the  race  under  the  influence  and  power 
of  the  Christian  religion. 

It  is  the  supreme  opportunity  in  this,  that  we  are 
dealing  with  human  life  in  its  beginnings,  when  the 
heart  of  childhood  is  open  to  influences  both  good 
and  bad  and  when  interests,  ideals,  choices,  habits, 
and  character  are  being  determined.  It  is  the  form- 
ative period  of  life,  in  which  whatever  forces  or 
ideals  enter  into  the  life  strengthen  and  grow  with 
11  161 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  growth  of  the  life.  It  is  the  opportunity  to  work 
with  the  expanding  powers  of  the  soul  in  stimulating 
and  nourishing  the  higher  and  subordinating  the 
lower.  Here  the  race  is  responsive  to  the  truth,  and 
here  it  may  be  led  into  all  truth.  This  supreme  op- 
portunity stands  over  against  the  diminishing  op- 
portunity in  later  years,  when  the  heart,  already  oc- 
cupied with  alien  interests  and  affections,  is  no  lon- 
ger open  and  easily  responsive  to  new  influences; 
when  character  has  taken  its  set ;  when  the  old  must 
be  broken  up  before  the  new  can  be  implanted — the 
period  calling  for  re-formation.  Here  all  experience 
goes  to  show  that  the  few  may  be  rescued,  while  the 
many  will  continue  as  they  are. 

It  is  the  most  important  means  of  Christianizing 
the  race,  because  it  makes  the  fullest  use  of  those 
laws  according  to  which  knowledge  is  acquired, 
ideals  are  formed,  conduct  is  determined.  It  would 
be  more  correct  to  say  that  education  represents  the 
only  complete  and  efficient  means  by  which  the  char- 
acter of  the  race  is  to  be  changed  in  any  given  direc- 
tion, because  it  is  the  only  means  that  can  possibly 
bring  any  ideal  fully  to  bear  upon  the  whole  life  of 
any  generation. 

This  is  not  in  any  sense  in  opposition  to  the  state- 
ment, reiterated  in  this  volume,  that  the  progress  of 
the  kingdom  is  by  means  of  the  re-creative  power  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  transforming  first  human  hearts 
and  then  human  society.  The  two  statements  are 
essential  parts  of  a  larger  whole.  Education  may 
he  thought  of  as  the  cooperation  of  the  teacher  with 
the  inner  forces  of  life  and  power.  The  disciples, 
sent  forth  to  teach,  were  in  no  wise  to  supplant  di- 

162 


TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

vine  influences,  but  to  cooperate  with  them  and  to 
give  them  practical  direction.  The  more  effective  the 
work  of  the  disciples,  the  larger  would  be  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  Divine  Spirit.  In  all  that  is  said, 
therefore,  regarding  education  it  must  be  under- 
stood that  the  supreme  formative  power  is  God. 
But  the  question  that  concerns  us  is,  how  most  ef- 
fectively to  cooperate  with  God,  how  most  effective- 
ly to  bring  the  truth  to  bear  upon  the  lives  of  men. 
There  are  laws  of  child  nature  and  child  growth  and 
development  that  are  as  truly  God's  laws  as  are  the 
laws  written  in  the  Decalogue  or  in  the  revolution 
of  the  planets.  It  is  only  by  obeying  these  laws  that 
the  teacher  can  bring  the  child  into  the  fullest  under- 
standing and  appropriation  of  the  truth.  It  is  only 
in  obedience  to  these  laws  that  the  gospel  can  be 
truly  preached  or  taught,  and  only  thus  does  God 
have  the  opportunity  to  accomplish  his  full  purposes 
within.  The  education  that  we  are  talking  about, 
then,  is  not  a  substitute  for  the  life  of  God  in  the 
soul ;  it  is  continuous  and  obedient  cooperation  with 
this  inner  life  to  the  end  that  there  may  be  the  most 
complete  spiritual  development  of  the  child. 

This  religious  life  which  feeds  upon  the  truth  and 
grows  by  expression  in  obedience  to  the  truth  is  the 
gracious  possession  of  the  little  child,  not  in  its  full- 
ness, but  germinant;  "for  to  such  belongeth  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  But  this  life  may  be  neglect- 
ed until  the  heart  shall  become  dead  and  unrespon- 
sive to  the  will  and  to  the  love  of  God.  To  such  as 
have  reached  this  state  the  words  of  Jesus  come  with 
unabated  force :  "Except  ye  turn  and  become  as  lit- 
tle children,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  king- 

163 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

dom  of  heaven."  But  no  greater  wrong  can  be  done 
the  child  than  to  deny  its  right  within  the  king- 
dom, a  right  so  explicitly  safeguarded  by  Jesus  him- 
self. 

The  continuous  development  of  this  religious  life 
is  vastly  more  important  than  the  special  or  sporadic 
efforts  in  the  revival  to  bring  the  individual  back  to 
what  he  has  lost.  These  special  efforts  are  neces- 
sary in  order  to  reach  those  who  have  drifted  away, 
as  well  as  to  intensify  the  religious  interest  of  all.^ 
But  this  method  must  not  be  depended  upon  as  the 
chief  means  nor  made  a  substitute  for  the  more  far- 
reaching  and  thoroughgoing  process  of  nourishing 
and  training  the  life  in  Christ  Jesus  during  each 
stage  of  its  development.  Nor  must  the  process  of 
religious  education  be  thought  of  as  in  any  sense 
less  spiritual  than  the  revival. 

The  revival  is  primarily  remedial,  while  education 
is  primarily  constructive.  For  this  reason  educa- 
tion in  religion  must  be  the  chief  means  of  saving 
the  world.  After  the  plastic  years  of  youth  few  men 
are  converted,  and  even  during  the  plastic  years  the 
revival  never  succeeds  in  making  up  for  the  awful 
waste  of  young  life  through  our  neglect  of  education 
from  the  cradle  up.  Our  one  first-class  chance  at 
men  is  during  their  years  of  growth.  The  progress 
of  the  kingdom  depends  primarily  upon  our  secur- 
ing control  of  more  and  more  children  and  educating 
them  right.  Failing  to  do  this,  we  can  never  by  any 
possible  means  catch  up  with  our  task.^ 


^See  Atkins's  "The  Kingdom  In  the  Cradle,"  pp.  68-72. 
'George  Albert  Coe,  "Education  in  Religion  and  Morals," 
p.  395. 

164 


TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

1.  The  Christian  View  of  Keligious  Education 

(1)  The  goal  of  education. 

Any  intelligent  view  of  education  must  include  an 
educational  goal.     The  goal  may  conceivably  vary 
from  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  the  performance  of 
some  particular  act  or  work,  or  the  mastery  of  cer- 
tain subjects,  all  the  way  to  the  total  outcome  in  the 
character,  personality,  and  powers  of  the  man.     It 
is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  vari- 
ous theories  of  education  in  order  to  set  forth  the 
central  goal  from  the  Christian  point  of  view.    This 
is  determined  by  the  Christian  view  of  life.    Profes- 
sor Coe  is  unquestionably  right  when  he  says :  "Edu- 
cation cannot  accept  as  its  end  anything  less  than 
the  highest  destiny  that  man  is  capable  of."    And, 
again ;  "According  to  our  conception  of  the  meaning 
of  life,  then,  will  be  our  conception  of  education."^ 
The  Christian  view  of  life,  as  has  already  been  point- 
ed out,  is  spiritual—that  is,  it  is  concerned  with  the 
fulfillment  of  the  personal  life  in  its  relations  with 
God  and  man.     It  is  concerned  with  the  outcome 
in    character,   not   in   any   isolated   individualistic 
sense,  but  in  that  development  of  the  potentialities 
of  the  soul  that  results  in  both  the  will  and  the  pow- 
er to  serve  men  and,  above  all,  in  the  realization  of 
life's  highest  unity  and   fulfillment   in   fellowship 
with  God  and  the  power  of  joyous  obedience  to  his 
will.    This  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  realized 
self  in  the  universe  of  God,  the  man  come  to  his  di- 
vinely appointed  destiny  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 


•"Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,"  pp.  20,  21. 
165 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(2)  The  Christian  view  of  education  determined  hy 
the  Christian  conception  of  character. 

The  Christian  view  of  education  is  not  different 
from  all  other  theories  of  education  in  having  a  goal 
or  even  in  insisting  that  this  goal  is  character.  The 
uniqueness  of  the  Christian  point  of  view  is  in  its 
ideal  of  character,  in  the  Christian  interpretation  of 
life.  It  has,  in  fact,  become  a  commonplace  nowa- 
days among  educators  that  all  true  education  aims 
at  character.  And  so  far,  so  good.  But  this  theory 
will  be  just  as  faulty  or  just  as  adequate  as  is  one's 
theory  of  life  and  character.  The  Christian  view  of 
education  has  the  advantage  over  all  other  concep- 
tions of  education  in  so  far  as  the  Christian  view  of 
life  and  of  character  is  superior  to  all  others.  It 
has  the  superiority  that  grows  out  of  Jesus's  revela- 
tion of  the  worth  and  destiny  of  the  individual.  It 
refuses  to  interpret  education,  as  it  refuses  to  inter- 
pret any  question  of  human  life,  in  terms  of  a  tempo- 
rary end  or  a  mere  means  to  an  end,  whether  that  be 
eflSciency,  material  success,  learning,  or  culture.  It 
insists  upon  an  interpretation  of  the  complete  man 
as  set  forth  in  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus.  Thus, 
for  instance,  if  the  idea  of  eflSciency  in  education  is 
suggested  as  the  goal,  we  may  answer  with  Bishop 
Atkins:  "The  complete  education  of  every  man 
makes  the  most  efifective  agency  for  the  doing  of  all 
the  things  that  are  to  be  done  in  the  world  and  leaves 
above  all  mere  achievement  the  fully  developed  man 
as  an  end  in  himself  and  forever."*     If  the  idea  of 

*From  an  address  of  Bishop  James  Atkins,  delivered  at 
the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  Dallas  Hall,  Southern 
Methodist  University,  November  27,  1912. 

166 


TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

education  for  the  promotion  of  learning  is  suggested, 
we  may  reply  that  true  education  is  indeed  learning, 
but  learning  through  and  in  relation  to  living;  and 
this  living  is  the  whole  life  of  the  man,  both  in  this 
world  and  in  the  world  to  come. 

The  Christian  view  of  life,  then,  calls  for  the  con- 
scious control  of  the  educative  process  to  the  end 
that  the  Christian  ideal  may  be  realized  in  the  life 
of  the  boy  or  girl.  Christian  education  is  thus  "an 
effort  to  assist  immature  persons  to  realize  them- 
selves and  their  destinies  as  persons,"^  destiny  being 
understood  in  the  Christian  sense. 

(3)  The  place  of  religion  in  education. 

Professor  Welton  states  a  well-established  princi- 
ple when  he  says :  "Religion  is  the  only  sure  basis 
mankind  has  ever  found  for  the  moral  life  of  the 
community."^  It  is  the  only  sure  basis  that  has  ever 
been  found  for  the  control  of  conduct  and  the  under- 
girding  of  character.  This  is  so  because  its  appeal 
is  to  ultimate  realities.  No  rule  of  expediency  or  re- 
quirement of  custom  is  sufficient  to  enlist  and  to 
command  all  the  powers  of  the  soul.  It  is  only  when 
a  man  believes  that  the  moral  law  is  of  the  very 
structure  of  the  universe,  that  it  has  its  source  in  a 
personal  God,  from  whom  and  whose  laws  there  can 
be  no  escape,  that  these  laws  assume  the  place  of 
rightful  and  unquestioned  supremacy  in  the  life. 
Here  morality  becomes  religious,  because  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  personal  relation  to  God ;  and  here  reli- 
gion gives  the  needed  strength  to  morality. 

^"Education  in  Religion  and  Morals." 
«"What  Is  Education?"  Welton,  p.  57. 
167 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

This  leads  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  relation  of 
the  religious  interest  to  the  complete  life.  Religion 
is  the  organizing  principle  in  the  complete  education- 
al process.  If  education  is  to  result  in  the  complete 
man,  with  powers  developed  and  unified  in  the  high- 
est character,  it  is  evident  that  those  powers  must 
be  developed  under  the  guidance  of  some  unifying 
principle  that  makes  for  such  character.  Interest 
governs  attention  and  is  essential  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mind  in  any  particular  direction.  There 
may  be  interest  in  art,  music,  mathematics,  lan- 
guage, science,  history,  etc.;  and  interest  is  neces- 
sary to  progress  in  any  of  these  subjects.  Yet  one 
might  conceivably  be  more  or  less  separately  inter- 
ested in  one  or  more  of  these  subjects  and  not  relate 
his  knowledge  to  an^^  unified  view  of  life  nor  find  his 
powers  developing  into  strong,  consistent  character. 

Psychology  teaches  us  that  there  is  a  law  of  inter- 
est by  which  an  ultimate  or  superior  interest  may 
govern  immediate  or  subordinate  interests.  Thus 
the  man  who  buys  a  farm  with  the  single  thought  of 
making  a  living  becomes  interested  in  the  nature  of 
the  soil,  the  character  and  the  development  of  the 
crops,  and  in  market  conditions — in  fact,  in  a  hun- 
dred things  that  did  not  concern  him  before.  The 
law  holds  true  in  any  field  of  activity  that  a  man's 
business  interest  will  give  interest  and  unity  to  what 
might  otherwise  be  meaningless  and  of  no  concern  to 
him.  If  this  is  true,  it  must  be  evident  that  one's  su- 
preme interest,  that  which  constitutes  the  goal  and 
meaning  of  existence,  will,  more  than  anything  else, 
determine  th3  interest  and  the  value  of  all  knowledge 
and  all  experience.     Now,  religion  is  that  interest 

168 


TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

which  alone  is  concerned  with  life  as  a  whole.  It 
has  to  do  with  the  ultimate  facts  of  being  and  the  su- 
preme values  of  the  soul.  Herein  is  involved  not 
only  a  man's  belief  regarding  God,  but  also  his  hopes 
regarding  himself  and  all  that  he  holds  dear.  Here 
is  the  basis  of  his  confidence  in  the  universe  and  in 
the  future.  Here  alone  is  an  interest  that  can  com- 
prehend all  interests  of  life  and  give  to  all  its  proper 
worth  and  significance.  The  man  in  whom  this  in- 
terest has  been  properly  developed  will  see  all  things 
in  its  light,  while  his  powers  will  be  directed  and  or- 
ganized by  this  controlling  interest. 

Religion  is,  therefore,  not  an  adjunct  to  education 
nor  one  of  the  important  subjects  in  education ;  it  be- 
longs to  man  as  man,  and  there  can  be  no  true  edu- 
cation of  the  man  as  such  in  which  religion  is  not 
the  central  and  organizing  principle.  We  may  as 
well  talk  about  a  complete  education  that  omits  in- 
tellectual training  as  about  a  complete  education 
that  disregards  the  religious  nature  of  man.  "Reli- 
gion is  not  brought  to  the  school  as  a  new  piece  of 
furniture,  to  be  thrust  into  a  room  already  crowd- 
ed. It  comes  into  the  crowded  room  as  the  sun- 
light, revealing  the  meaning  and  value  of  all  that 
was  there  before.'""  Professor  Coe  says :  "Whatever 
religion  may  have  been  to  early  man  and  whatever 
it  may  be  to  other  civilizations  than  our  own,  to  us 
it  is  an  all-inclusive,  all-commanding  principle,  the 
very  stuff  that  human  life  is  made  of,  or  it  is  nothing 
at  all.     Consequently  for  us  religious  education  is 

''Dr.  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  In  an  address  published  by  the 
Religious  Education  Association,  1904,  p.  77. 

169 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

simply  education  in  the  complete  sense  of  that  term, 
or  else  it  is  not  education,  but  mere  special  train- 
ing."s 

The  existence  of  the  religious  nature  calls  for  the 
Christian  training  of  the  religious  nature.  This  na- 
ture is  innate  in  every  man.  But  every  man  is  reli- 
gious in  the  sense  that  every  man  is  intellectual. 
The  capacity  is  one  thing;  its  development  is  quite 
another  thing.  The  intellect  may  be  starved,  and 
the  man  may  be  ignorant.  Likewise  the  religious 
nature  may  be  starved  and  the  man  grow  up  with 
no  conception  of  God  or  with  crude  and  perverted 
thoughts  of  Deity.  If  religion  is  neglected,  the  soul 
becomes  at  war  with  itself,  swept  now  this  way,  now 
that  by  conflicting  impulses,  each  striving  for  the 
mastery.  If  the  religious  nature  is  developed  by  be- 
ing fed  on  degraded  conceptions  of  God  and  pervert- 
ed views  of  life,  it  may  become  a  tremendous  force, 
but  one  that  makes  for  a  narrow  life  and  a  thin  soul, 
and  will  fail  utterly  in  bringing  that  soul  to  a  com- 
pleteness of  character  in  right  relation  to  God  and 
man.  But  if  it  is  developed  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  by  coming  to  know  God  as  re- 
vealed through  him,  by  the  acceptance  of  the  Chris- 
tian view  of  life,  then  will  the  religious  power  be- 
come effective  in  organizing  life  and  shaping  it  to- 
ward the  highest  destiny  and  character. 

Herein  is  the  twofold  power  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion in  education :  First,  that  the  Christian  religion 
lays  hold  of  and  calls  forth  energies  that  are  latent 
within  the  soul ;  and,  secondly,  that  it  is  from  above 

^''Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,"  p.  29. 
170 


TEAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

and  reveals  the  highest  to  the  soul.  In  other  words, 
the  capacity  of  the  human  heart  for  response  to  the 
highest  and  the  appeal  of  the  Christian  religion  in 
offering  the  highest  appeal  are  counterparts.  There- 
in is  the  strongest  proof  that  both  have  the  same 
source  and  that  Christianity  is  God's  answer  to  the 
deepest  cry  of  the  soul.  Christianity  is  the  most 
complete  answer  to  the  religious  demands  of  life 
and  offers  the  only  adequate  goal  for  education. 

This  brings  us  back  to  our  starting  point  in  this 
chapter — namely,  that  in  carrying  out  the  program 
of  the  Christian  religion  the  supreme  opportunity 
and  most  important  means  are  in  training  the  com- 
ing generation  under  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
truth  and  the  spirit  of  the  living  Christ. 

In  closing  this  chapter  there  are  several  corolla- 
ries that  must  be  set  down,  even  if  very  briefly : 

(a)  Because  the  Christian  training  of  the  religious 
nature  offers  the  supreme  opportunity  and  most  im- 
portant means  of  making  a  Christian  world,  it  con- 
stitutes the  first  and  most  outstanding  obligation 
upon  the  Christian  Church  in  its  task  of  trying  to 
realize  the  program  of  the  Christian  religion. 

(6)  The  Church,  and  not  the  State,  is  the  custo- 
dian of  the  Christian  faith,  and  it  is  her  peculiar 
mission  to  minister  to  the  religious  needs  of  life  and 
to  teach  and  to  interpret  the  Christian  truth.  The 
most  urgent  call  to  the  Church  to-day  is  to  give  her- 
self to  this  task  with  eager  realization  of  its  signifi- 
cance for  the  kingdom  and  as  offering  the  largest 
opportunity  to  build  the  moral  and  spiritual  founda- 
tions of  the  city  of  God. 

(c)  Any  educational  system  that  neglects  the  reli- 
171 


PKOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

gious  nature  is  not  only  incomplete,  but,  if  standing 
alone,  cannot  merit  the  name  of  education.  We  may 
not,  therefore,  regard  the  public  school  system  of 
America,  from  which  religious  instruction  and  train- 
ing are  distinctly  excluded,  as  in  itself  in  any  sense 
a  complete  educational  system.  If,  therefore,  reli- 
gion is  not  to  wane  and  character  to  fail  of  adequate 
foundations  in  American  life,  this  system  must  be 
completed  by  supi)lying  elsewhere  that  which  is  con- 
spicuously lacking  in  the  State  program.  If  Chris- 
tianity is  to  be  established  in  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple and  in  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  then  the 
Christian  training  of  the  religious  nature  must  be 
provided  for,  and  so  fully  provided  for  that  it  shall 
become  the  vital  and  organizing  principle  in  that  en- 
tire educational  process  by  which  assistance  is  given 
to  immature  persons  to  realize  their  highest  destiny 
in  character  and  in  completeness  of  life  here  and  for- 
ever. 

(d)  The  Sunday  school  has  become  the  school  of 
the  nation  and  the  agency  of  the  Church  for  the  work 
of  religious  education.  Aside  from  the  home,  it  sup- 
plies the  only  means  left  for  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  the  vast  majority  of  children.  As  Prof.  H.  H. 
Home  points  out :  ^'The  Sunday  school  is  the  one  in- 
stitution in  American  life  whose  avowed  purpose  is 
to  teach  religious  truth."^ 

There  ought^  therefore,  to  be  mutual  recognition 
and  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  day  school  and 
the  Sunday  school.    While  the  State  and  the  Church 

*Horne,  "The  Psychological  Principles  of  Education/' 
p.  402. 

172 


TRAINING  THE  COMING  GENERATION 

will  properly  continue  separate  in  operation  and  con- 
trol, it  is  necessary  to  the  best  interest  of  both  that 
they  frankly  recognize  that  in  education  they  are 
dealing  with  the  same  child.  The  child  has  one  life, 
and  not  two.  The  public  school  and  the  Sunday 
school  are  in  reality  counterparts  of  one  system,  so 
far  as  the  child  is  concerned.  It  is,  therefore,  impor- 
tant that  each  should  view  the  child  in  the  entirety 
of  its  needs.  This  in  no  sense  means  dictation  or 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  State  in  the  work 
committed  to  the  Church,  nor  of  the  Church  in 
State  affairs.  But  it  does  mean  an  open  avowal  on 
the  part  of  the  State  that  religion  is  necessary  in 
education  and  that  the  Church  is  called  to  do  the 
work  of  religious  education.  And  it  does  mean  on 
the  part  of  the  Church  that  the  best-known  educa- 
tional processes  shall  be  made  use  of  in  religious  ed- 
ucation and  that  the  Church  shall  give  such  serious 
attention  to  religious  education  that  religion  shall 
be  assured  its  rightful  place  in  an  educational  sys- 
tem that  undertakes  to  make  provision  for  the  whole 
life  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  America.  It  means 
nothing  more  than  that  Church  and  State  shall 
somehow  coordinate  their  efforts  with  first  refer- 
ence to  the  requirements  of  the  undivided  and  total 
life  of  the  pupil,  but  we  can  be  content  with  nothing 


Thought  Questions 

1.  Will  the  world  ever  be  saved  so  long  as  the  Churches 
place  chief  emphasis  on  adult  evangelism? 

2.  Why  must  education  be  made  Christian  if  the  world 
is  ever  to  be  won  to  Christ? 

3.  Which   is  more  faulty,  a  system  of  education  that 

173 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

omits  all  study  of  national  history,  or  one  that  omits  all 
elements  of  religious  training? 

4.  Can  you  conceive  of  any  way  by  which  a  nation's 
doom  may  more  surely  be  sealed  than  by  eliminating  the 
religious  from  the  training  of  its  boys  and  girls? 

5.  What  imperative  responsibility  rests  upon  the  Church 
in  America,  in  view  of  the  exclusion  of  religious  training 
from  State  education? 

174 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PLACE  AND  WORK  OF  THE  ORGANIZED 
CHURCH 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Mathews,  "The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order." 
Ward,  "Social  Creed  of  the  Churches." 
Ward,  "A  Yearbook  of  the  Church  and  Social  Service 
in  the  United  States." 

Gladden,  "The  Church  and  the  Kingdom." 
Brown,  "Is  Christianity  Practicable?" 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PLACE  AND  WORK  OF  THE  ORGANIZED 
CHURCH 

We  have  been  studying  Christianity  at  work  in 
the  world,  transforming  human  hearts,  establishing 
itself  in  the  family  life,  creating  new  centers  of  spir- 
itual power  through  the  establishment  of  Christian 
communities  in  non-Christian  lands,  and  finally 
sending  out  its  influence  to  affect  the  general  at- 
mosphere of  thought  and  conscience.  We  have  seen 
that  this  aggressive  and  revolutionary  energy  of  the 
Christian  religion  does  not  leave  any  human  inter- 
est outside  the  field  of  its  influence,  but  sooner  or 
later  comes  to  bear  upon  all  the  relationships  which 
men  sustain  to  each  other.  Thus  the  problem  of 
the  State,  of  wealth,  of  industry,  of  recreation,  of 
education,  and  everything  that  constitutes  any  part 
of  the  complex  social  life  of  humanity,  is  a  problem 
with  which  the  Christian  religion  must  have  to  do, 
since  it  is  a  human  problem  and  therefore  an  essen- 
tial phase  of  the  total  task  of  the  creation  of  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

1.  The  Necessity  of  Organization 

How,  then,  is  Christianity  to  be  propagated  in  the 
world  ?  How  is  it  to  be  extended  to  all  parts  of  the 
earth  and  to  all  phases  of  human  life?  How  is  it  to 
make  its  conquest  of  the  hearts  of  men  and  change 
their  motive  and  the  manner  of  their  lives,  whether 
they  act  as  individuals  or  in  groups,  whether  in  di- 
12  177 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION    . 

rect  personal  relations  or  through  the  indirect  and 
complex  institutions  or  system  of  organized  socie- 
ty? Here  is  the  reason  for  the  Church.  No  cause 
will  permanently  advance  apart  from  a  distinct 
agency  to  promote  it.  The  Church  is  the  guardian, 
the  bearer,  the  interpreter  and  teacher  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  It  is  not  itself  identical  with  the  king- 
dom of  God,  but  exists  to  establish  that  kingdom. 
The  Church  is  not  to  take  over  the  functions  of  the 
family,  of  industry,  or  of  the  State ;  but  it  is  to  seek 
to  make  Christian  all  of  these  and  to  make  each  a 
harmonious  part  of  a  new  humanity.  The  truth  does 
not  live  among  men  until  it  becomes  incarnate.  We 
have  the  written  Gospels  and  the  teachings  of  the 
apostles;  but,  essential  as  these  have  been  to  the 
spread  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  they  have  been 
secondary  to  the  truth  palpitating  in  the  hearts  of 
believers,  those  who  have  had  the  mind  and  spirit  of 
their  Master.  Here  is  where  Jesus  left  his  message, 
and  here  is  where  it  will  ever  appear  as  light  and 
power  to  transform  the  world. 

The  Christian  Church  is  the  company  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  joined  together  for  the  furtherance 
of  his  gospel  in  the  earth.  It  is  an  organization  of 
human  beings  to  carry  out  a  divine  plan,  to  make 
actual  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world. 
Its  methods  and  its  form  of  organization  are  inci- 
dental and  ever-changing.  Its  particular  task  and 
form  of  message  may  vary  from  time  to  time,  and 
its  apprehension  of  the  truth  may  be  incomplete  and 
sometimes  distorted ;  but  it  has  ever  the  same  Lord, 
the  same  undying  faith  in  his  power  to  save,  the 
same  union  with  him  in  life  and  work.    It  is  heir  to 

178 


THE  ORGANIZED  CHURCH 

the  message  and  the  mission  of  the  first  disciples  to 
teach  all  nations.  To  it  has  been  committed  the 
light  of  the  ages,  the  truth  of  a  holy  ideal  for  human- 
ity. And  that  truth,  as  a  searchlight,  the  Church  is 
to  throw  upon  the  life  of  the  world ;  and  as  it  falls 
on  human  hearts  and  customs  and  institutions,  these 
all  are  to  be  revealed  in  the  light  of  that  ideal 
which  is  at  once  to  become  the  condemnation  of  the 
false  and  the  revelation  of  the  true.  The  Church  is 
thus  to  show  forth  the  will  of  God  as  it  is  seen  in 
Christ  and  apprehended  by  those  whose  supreme  joy 
it  is  to  do  his  will.  It  is  set  to  keep  the  light  of  a 
new  hope  and  love  burning  forever  on  the  altar  of 
human  hearts  and  casting  its  warmth  and  glow  into 
every  dark  spot  and  corner  of  the  earth.  Its  task  is 
the  Christianization  of  the  world. 

2.  The  Church  at  the  Center 

The  Church,  conceived  as  the  body  of  believers  in 
Christ  united  to  do  his  will  in  the  world,  is  the  ra- 
diating center  of  a  new  light  and  the  source  of  a  re- 
generating power  in  human  society.  That  light  and 
that  power  came  into  the  world  through  Jesus 
Christ,  and  he  has  established  his  Church  that 
through  it  he  may  continue  to  enlighten  and  to 
transform  the  world.  Thus  the  Church  is  to  be  at 
the  center  of  a  new  order  as  the  fountain  through 
which  the  water  of  life  springs  up  and  overflows  into 
the  world.  All  are  to  drink  of  its  life-giving  stream ; 
its  influence  is  to  be  felt  alike  in  the  soul  alone  with 
its  God  and  in  the  hearts  of  men  as  they  mingle  with 
their  fellows.  It  is  to  be  the  organized  agency  for 
the  propagation  of  the  Christian  message  and  the 

179 


PEOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

realization  of  the  Christian  program.  It  will  ac- 
cordingly reach  to  the  whole  of  life  and  concern 
itself  with  every  human  interest  and  activity,  be- 
cause it  stands  for  the  reign  of  a  divine  order  in  all 
human  affairs. 

It  is  apparent  that  other  institutions  besides  the 
Church  will  work  for  the  kingdom.  The  fact  is  that 
all  institutions,  in  proportion  as  they  become  Chris- 
tian, will  become  contributory  to  this  end.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  Christian  family  is  the  very 
citadel  of  the  kingdom  and  the  gateway  through 
which  the  advancing  young  life  of  the  world  should 
find  entrance  into  the  kingdom.  So  far  as  the  State 
is  Christian  does  it  promote  justice  and  mercy  and 
help  onward  the  kingdom  of  love.  So,  too,  must  it 
be  in  the  field  of  wealth  and  industry — these  must  be 
made  contributory  to  righteousness  and  to  the  broth- 
erhood of  the  family  of  God.  Above  all  will  educa- 
tion, when  it  has  become  truly  Christianized,  be 
joined  with  the  home  in  preserving  and  extending 
the  divine  kingdom.  But  in  and  through  all  of  these 
the  Church  lives  and  works  to  infuse  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  to  transform  them  from  alien  to 
allied  forces  in  hastening  the  triumphant  kingdom 
of  her  Lord.  Its  function  is  to  tring  the  gospel  into 
the  lives  of  men  and  into  the  life  of  the  loorld.  The 
Church  is,  indeed,  more  than  the  bearer  of  a  body  of 
teachings  and  the  prophet  of  a  new  social  ideal ;  it 
is  designed  to  be  the  human  doorway  through  which 
men  enter  the  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God 
and  see  all  things  new.  Its  mission  is  to  bring  men 
into  vital  union  with  God,  that  they  may  go  forth  in 

180 


THE  ORGANIZED  CHURCH 

verity  sons  of  their  Heavenly  Father  and  with  the 
power  of  a  new  love  for  all  men. 

3.  The  Church  in  Relation  to  the  State  and  to  the 
Social  Order 

At  the  risk  of  repeating  what  has  already  been 
said,  it  may  be  in  the  interest  of  clearness  to  state 
somewhat  more  fully  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  State  and  to  the  social  order  in  general. 

The  State  has  not  to  do  essentially  with  the  crea- 
tion of  ideals,  but  with  the  enactment  and  execution 
of  laws  representing  existent  ideals  and  standards. 
In  a  democracy  the  State  presumably  represents  the 
present  will  of  the  majority  of  the  people,  though,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  what  the  State  does  is  necessarily 
a  result  of  a  compromise  of  views.  But  in  the  main 
it  expresses  the  present  status  of  society  as  a  whole ; 
it  stands  for  things  as  they  are,  a  present  practical 
order.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Church  stands  for  an 
ideal  order.  Its  goal  is  on  ahead.  It  looks  forward 
to  the  establishment  of  a  new  democracy  of  broth- 
ers, built  upon  the  foundation  of  justice,  truth,  and 
love.  The  Church  awaits  the  time  when  the  State 
Itself,  performing  its  proper  part  in  this  new  democ- 
racy, shall  be  governed  by  these  principles.  Without 
attempting  to  assume  the  functions  of  the  State,  the 
Church  will  continue  to  transform  the  State  by  hold- 
ing up  Christian  ideals  before  those  who  constitute 
its  citizens  and  by  subjecting  the  State  itself  to  the 
test  of  Christian  standards.  The  Church  pushes 
from  within  with  the  creative  power  of  life,  break- 
ing the  shell  of  the  old  and  making  it  necessary  that 
the  growing  social  organism  shall  find  a  civic  exte- 

181 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

rior  in  keeping  with  its  expanding  life  and  its  new 
ideals  and  character.  The  progress  of  collective  so- 
ciety will  ever  bring  to  the  front  new  questions  for 
civic  settlement.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church,  not 
to  make  the  laws  of  the  State  nor  decide  upon  the  de- 
tails of  legislation,  but  to  test  these  questions  of  the 
times  by  the  eternal  standards  of  morality  and  to  in- 
sist that  there  shall  be  no  final  settlement  of  these 
questions  until  they  shall  be  settled  in  a  way  that 
squares  with  the  requirements  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ. 

But  the  State  is  only  a  form  of  social  expression, 
while  the  social  order  embraces  everything  that  has 
to  do  with  the  corporate  life  of  the  people.  Within 
this  corporate  life  the  Church  exists  to  exalt  the 
Christ  of  a  new  humanity  and  to  be  the  inspirer  and 
revealer  of  a  new  world.  Its  function  is  to  make 
Christ  live  among  men.  Jesus  came  eating  and 
drinking  and  mingling  with  men  as  a  brother  of  men, 
that  through  this  intimacy  he  might  become  their 
Saviour.  The  doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  men, 
thus  authorized  b}^  his  life  even  more  than  by  his 
teaching,  must  not  only  be  taught  by  the  Church ;  it 
must  be  lived  by  the  Church.  It  must  be  insisted 
upon  in  its  application  to  the  conditions  under 
which  men  live  and  labor  to-day.  Jesus  made  serv- 
ice to  his  brethren  a  test  of  devotion  to  himself,  and 
the  organized  company  of  his  followers  must  keep  in 
sympathy  with  men  in  their  need,  lest  men  shall  miss 
in  his  disciples  that  which  was  so  manifest  in  their 
Master. 

The  Church  may  well  hesitate  to  identify  itself 
with  any  special  theory  of  government,  any  program 

182 


THE  ORGANIZED  CHURCH 

or  detailed  scheme  of  social  reform  which  may  be  a 
mere  matter  of  political  wisdom  or  of  temporary  ex- 
pediency. The  Church  stands  for  the  ultimate  and 
the  eternal.  But  against  iniquity  in  all  forms, 
against  industrial  oppression  and  social  wrong  and 
civic  unrighteousness,  against  organized  sin  and  in- 
dividual sin,  against  political  graft  and  organized 
dishonesty,  against  organized  intemperance  and  indi- 
vidual drunkenness,  against  the  combined  forces  of 
the  underworld  and  personal  impurity,  the  Church 
must  stand  without  compromise  and  without  cessa- 
tion. And  whatever  makes  for  better  conditions  of 
living,  for  better  homes,  for  better  health,  for  better 
education,  for  fairer  relations  between  employer  and 
employee,  for  a  juster  distribution  of  wealth,  for  a 
larger  and  truer  outlook  upon  the  world  for  all  class- 
es, that  the  Church  must  sympathize  with  and  en- 
courage. The  Church  must  never  forget  that  she  has 
entered  into  the  work  and  mission  of  Him  who  came 
that  these  might  have  life,  and  might  have  it  abun- 
dantly. There  is  no  better  illustration  of  the  way  in 
which  the  Church  may  make  a  practical  application 
of  the  gospel  to  the  vital  problems  of  the  day  than  in 
what  is  known  as  "The  Social  Creed  of  the  Church- 
es," adopted  December  4,  1908,  which  is  as  follows : 

The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  stands : 

For  equal  rights  and  complete  justice  for  all  men 
in  all  stations  of  life. 

For  abolition  of  child  labor. 

For  such  regulation  of  the  conditions  of  to'l  for 
women  as  shall  safeguard  the  physical  and  moral 
health  of  the  community. 

For  the  suppression  of  the  "sweating  system." 
183 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

For  the  gradual  and  reasonable  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor  to  the  lowest  practicable  point,  and 
for  that  degree  of  leisure  for  all  which  is  the  condi- 
tion of  the  highest  human  life. 

For  a  release  from  employment  one  day  in  seven. 

For  the  right  of  all  men  to  the  opportunity  for 
self-maintenance,  a  right  ever  to  be  wisely  and 
strongly  safeguarded  against  encroachments  of  ev- 
ery kind. 

For  the  right  of  workers  to  some  protection 
against  the  hardships  often  resulting  from  the  swift 
crises  of  industrial  change. 

For  a  living  wage  as  a  minimum  in  every  industry 
and  for  the  highest  wage  that  each  industry  can  af- 
ford. 

For  the  protection  of  the  worker  from  dangerous 
machinery,  occupational  disease,  injuries,  and  mor- 
tality. 

For  suitable  provision  for  the  old  age  of  workers 
and  for  those  incapacitated  by  injury. 

For  the  principle  of  conciliation  and  arbitration 
in  industrial  dissensions. 

For  the  abatement  of  poverty. 

For  the  most  equitable  division  of  the  products  of 
industry  that  can  ultimately  be  devised. 

It  may  be  added  that  this  action  of  the  Federal 
Council  has  been  indorsed  by  the  governing  bodies  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  as  well  as  by  many  of  the 
other  denominations  represented  in  the  Federal 
Council. 

4.  The  Local  Church 

(!)  Delivering  the  message. 

The  unit  of  the  Church  in  the  world  is  the  local 
Church,  which  represents  the  general  Church  in  its 
mission  to  the  community  and  at  the  same  time  re- 

184 


THE  ORGANIZED  CHURCH 

lates  the  congregation  to  the  wider  interests  of  the 
Church  in  the  whole  earth.  Within  the  range  of  its 
own  special  field  the  local  Church  must  make  known 
the  gospel  of  Christ ;  it  must  represent  the  cause  of 
Christ  worthily  here,  or  else  its  very  occupation  of 
the  field  will  be  a  barrier  to  the  cause  it  is  set  to  ad- 
vance. This  involves  teaching  and  preaching  the 
message  in  the  most  effective  way  possible  to  those 
of  the  Church  membership,  to  their  families,  and,  as 
far  as  may  be,  to  all  who  can  be  reached  in  the  com- 
munity. This  is  the  task  of  holding  up  the  Christ 
by  every  means,  so  that  men  and  women  may  be 
drawn  unto  him  and  that  children  may  grow  up  in 
him.  But  it  is  a  task  that  cannot  be  fulfilled  by  the 
preacher  alone.  Every  one  who  knows  Christ  is 
called  upon  to  proclaim  him  in  word  and  deed.  If 
the  Christian  congregation  is  led  by  the  preacher, 
who  is  especially  fitted  to  interpret  the  Gospel,  it  is 
that  the  Christian  people  may  the  more  fully  under- 
stand both  how  to  live  and  how  themselves  to  be 
witnesses  of  the  truth  in  the  world.  The  Christian 
preacher  can  at  best  be  but  the  inspirer  and  captain 
of  a  company  of  men  and  women  whose  business  it 
is  to  deliver  the  message  of  the  Christian  religion. 

(2)  Studying  the  commumty  and  world  needs. 

To  the  living  soul  truth  is  ever  unfolding  and  ex- 
panding. It  is  the  mission  of  the  Church  so  to  deliv- 
er the  gospel  message  that,  under  the  leadership  of 
the  Divine  Spirit,  men  may  continue  to  advance  in 
the  knowledge  of  all  truth.  But  the  Spirit's  method 
of  revealing  truth  is  in  relation  to  the  life  and  needs 
of  men.  The  Church,  therefore,  as  the  interpreter  of 
truth,  must  study  the  Gospel  in  its  relation  and  ap- 

185 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

plication  to  the  world  in  which  men  live.  They  must 
be  helped  to  see  their  pathv/ay  in  the  world  of  big 
business,  in  the  world  of  labor,  in  the  world  of  rec- 
reation and  pleasure,  under  the  direct  illumination 
of  the  Gospel.  This  means  that  the  Church  must  not 
only  be  a  student  of  the  Bible,  and  especially  of  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  and  the  apostles,  but  must  study 
the  problems  of  the  community  and  of  the  world  in 
the  light  of  those  teachings.  It  must  study  the  eon- 
ditions  under  which  men  live  and  strive  and  the  acute 
questions  that  are  raised  in  this  struggle,  such  as 
those  dealt  with  in  "The  Social  Creed  of  the  Church- 
es." Only  thus  will  the  Church  be  able  with  sympa- 
thy and  intelligence  to  help  lift  the  burdens  of  men 
and  to  right  their  wrongs.  The  Church  must  know 
the  causes  of  poverty,  of  despair,  of  crime,  of  social 
strife,  of  disease  and  misery,  and  of  the  ruin  of  great 
groups  of  people  together.  It  must  know  in  order  to 
serve.  It  must  know  in  order  that  it  may  create  a 
new  conscience  in  these  matters  among  all  classes, 
so  that  an  enlightened  social  mind  may  cease  to  tol- 
erate social  injustice;  that  men  who  practice  what  is 
socially  and  morally  indefensible  may  be  put  under 
the  ban  of  public  condemnation ;  and,  if  need  be,  that 
Christian  citizens  shall  exercise  their  right  in  put- 
ting a  stop  to  such  wrongs  by  appeal  to  the  courts 
or  by  joint  action  in  behalf  of  needed  social  legisla- 
tion. The  saloon  evil,  the  social  evil,  the  evils  of  un- 
just and  oppressive  industrial  conditions,  the  evils 
of  unsanitary  and  bad  living  conditions,  where  home 
life  is  impossible  and  where  childhood  is  denied  its 
rights — these  and  many  other  matters  that  affect  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  men  must  be  studied,  that  the 

186 


THE  ORGANIZED  CHURCH 

Church  may  be  in  position  to  serve  the  community 
by  an  intelligent  understanding  of  these  questions, 
by  pointing  out  the  clear  line  of  public  duty,  and  by 
calling  the  community  to  repentance.  At  the  same 
time  the  Church  must  acquaint  itself  in  a  general 
way  with  the  needs  of  all  people,  that  it  may  be  able 
intelligently  to  render  its  proper  service  in  giving  the 
gospel  to  the  whole  earth. 

(3)  Attempting  definite  tasks. 

The  Church  in  a  community  must  be  a  company 
of  Christian  people  joined  together  to  do  the  will  of 
God  in  that  community.  This  does  not  mean  mere- 
ly to  live  the  life  of  private  morality  or  of  conform- 
ity to  the  rules  of  the  Church.  It  is  the  organized 
company  of  Christian  people  united  in  a  definite  ef- 
fort to  save  their  community.  It  is  the  effort  to 
bring  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  commu- 
nity within  the  influence  of  the  gospel  and  into 
definite  personal  relation  with  Jesus  Christ  and 
unto  fullness  of  life  in  him.  Its  specific  tasks  will  be 
discovered  in  the  light  of  the  study  of  its  field,  for 
the  end  of  the  investigation  is  the  beginning  of  the 
program  of  service. 

(4)  In  relation  to  the  entire  Church  and  its  world 
task. 

While  the  local  Church  accepts  especial  responsi- 
bility for  the  territory  in  which  it  is  situated,  it  does 
so  as  a  part  of  the  greater  Church.  It  shares  in  the 
burden  and  task  of  the  Church  as  a  whole.  Thus, 
for  instance,  the  problem  of  world  evangelization, 
because  it  belongs  to  the  Church  of  God  in  the  earth, 
rests  in  its  proportionate  measure  upon  every  indi- 
vidual  congregation   and   separate   section   of  the 

187 


PROGRAM  OP  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Church.  Likewise  the  problems  of  evangelism,  of  re- 
ligious education,  of  social  service  in  the  communi- 
ty can  be  intelligently  understood  only  when  the  wid- 
er scope  of  these  problems  is  considered.  The  local 
Church  must,  therefore,  study  its  particular  tasks 
in  their  wider  relations.  It  must  seek  to  understand 
and  to  fulfill  its  part  in  all  that  makes  for  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  the  world.  The  local  Church  is  to  ful- 
fill its  mission  in  doing  the  work  of  the  Church  uni- 
versal in  the  community,  while  it  bears  in  its  own 
consciousness  the  realization  of  its  share  and  has  its 
participation  in  the  work  and  privileges  of  the 
Church  universal. 

Thought  Questions 

1.  What    distinction    would    you    make    between    the 
Church  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  God? 

2.  By  what  means  is  the  Church  to  seek  to  create  a 
better  social  order? 

3.  In  what  sense  must  every  local  Church  be  engaged  in 
a  world  enterprise? 

188 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY— THE  ULTI- 
MATE SUPREMACY  OF  THE  KING- 
DOM OF  GOD 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hall,  "The  Universal  Elements  of  the  Christian  Rellx 
gion." 

Strong,  "The  New  World  Religion." 
King,  "Fundamental  Questions." 
Brown,  "Is  Christianity  Practicable?" 
Faunce,  "What  Does  Christianity  Mean?" 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY— THE  ULTI- 
MATE SUPREMACY  OF  THE  KING- 
DOM OF  GOD 

1.  The  Need  of  a  World  Religion 

When  one  detaches  one's  self  from  personal  and 
local  interests  in  order  to  a  more  comprehensive 
and  impartial  view  of  things  and  vrith  open  mind 
permits  the  forces  of  the  world  life  of  to-day  to  play 
upon  consciousness,  certain  fundamental  questions, 
involving  nothing  less  than  the  destiny  of  the  race, 
force  themselves  upon  one's  attention. 

The  greatest  nations  of  history,  with  unprecedent- 
ed wealth,  with  armies  and  navies  the  most  terrible 
of  all  time  at  their  back,  have  entered  the  contest 
for  commercial  supremacy  in  a  common  market, 
which  is  the  entire  world.  What  is  the  basis  of  our 
hope  that  these  tremendous  forces  will  ever  work  to- 
gether for  mutual  helpfulness,  for  world  peace,  for 
the  betterment  of  all  mankind,  rather  than  for  de- 
struction, the  dominance  of  the  stronger,  and  the  en- 
thronement of  selfish  greed? 

Again,  the  elemental  forces  of  nature  have  been 
released  and  the  reins  of  their  governance  put  with- 
in the  hands  of  masterful  men.  The  wealth-produc- 
ing capacity  of  the  race  has  thereby  been  multiplied 
beyond  computation.  What  is  the  basis  of  our  hope 
that  there  is  to  be  a  new  freedom  and  not  a  new 
bondage  for  mankind,  and  that  these  new  energies 
commanded  will  make  for  the  increased  wealth,  com- 

191 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

fort,  and  fuller  life  of  every  one,  rather  than  that 
they  will  be  a  new  scepter  of  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  selfish  strong  who  are  willing  to  "wade  through 
slaughter  to  throne  and  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on 
mankind"? 

Once  again  the  fashions,  the  customs,  the  educa- 
tional and  political  systems,  the  ethical  codes,  and 
even  the  vices  of  the  entire  world,  are  being  thrown 
into  the  same  melting  pot.  What  is  the  basis  of  our 
hope  that  in  the  more  intimate  and  complex  society 
of  the  future  the  best  will  be  preserved  and  cher- 
ished, while  the  worst  will  be  eliminated  in  all  these 
realms  of  thought  and  action?  Here  are  raised 
questions  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  life  of  the 
w^orld.  They  present  themselves  in  a  thousand 
forms.  They  point  to  inevitable  and  far-reaching 
changes  in  the  world's  life,  which  make  new  founda- 
tions necessary. 

The  question,  then,  becomes  unavoidable :  What  is 
to  constitute  the  ethical  basis,  the  moral  substra- 
tum, of  this  cosmopolitan  civilization,  this  world 
commerce,  industry,  community  of  interest,  this 
world  life  into  which  we  are  all  being  irresistibly 
ushered?  Whence  the  moral  dynamic  adequate  to 
undergird  this  vast  life  on  our  planet  and  direct 
these  titanic  forces  constructively  toward  peace  and 
justice  and  brotherhood  among  men? 

Nothing  is  more  superficial  than  to  suppose  that 
the  new  creations  that  mark  our  material  advance- 
ment will  furnish  the  elements  of  moral  energy  req- 
uisite to  this  task.  These  are  only  additional  forces, 
calling  for  additional  control — forces  that  will  work 
for  weal  or  woe,  according  to  the  character  of  that 

192 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTOKY 

control.  It  is  less  apparently  superficial,  but  no  less 
fundamentally  false,  to  imagine  that  the  answer  to 
this  question  is  to  be  found  in  intellectual  training 
or  in  modern  scientific  methods  in  education,  for 
here  also  it  is  true  that  we  have  added  moral  power 
only  when  under  moral  direction.  With  these  vain 
assumptions  may  be  placed  another  that  has  attrac- 
tion for  certain  minds — namely,  that  human  nature, 
by  a  sort  of  inevitable  evolution,  will  work  itself  up- 
ward toward  perfection.  But  human  nature  has 
worked  upward  or  downward  according  to  certain 
moral  and  spiritual  laws  that  are  discernible.  Fi- 
nally, there  are  a  vast  number  who  are  looking  to 
some  program  of  political  or  social  reconstruction 
to  solve  the  ills  of  the  race  and  bring  in  the  order  of 
true  brotherhood  among  men.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
pass  upon  any  such  scheme  of  readjustment,  as  to 
its  wisdom  or  unwisdom,  as.  a  political  or  social  pro- 
gram, in  order  to  say  that  the  moral  power  for  hu- 
man redemption  and  a  better  world  is  not  to  be 
found  in  any  political  scheme  or  social  program, 
however  excellent.  These  are  indispensable,  to  be 
sure,  as  means  and  experiments ;  but  the  inspiration, 
the  ideal,  the  spiritual  dynamic  are  deeper. 

It  is  to  miss  the  lesson  of  all  history  to  fail  to  see 
that  the  source  of  effective  and  persistent  moral  dy- 
namic has  ever  teen  in  religion.  It  is  to  that  au- 
thority alone  w^hich  is  truly  religious  that  the  moral 
conscience  of  mankind  responds  with  an  absolute- 
ness and  an  energy  that  make  moral  victory  possi- 
ble. So  that  the  question  which  stands  out  with 
startling  emphasis  at  this  hour  is  a  question  of  reli- 
gion. It  is  nothing  less  than  an  imperative  demand 
13  193 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  this  cosmopolitan  age  of  the  world  for  a  religion 
that  is  broad  enough  and  high  enough  to  satisfy  its 
intellectual  and  sjjiritual  needs  and  that  is  mighty 
enough  to  furnish  an  adequate  source  of  power  for 
the  control  of  all  the  forces  that  enter  into  the  vast 
and  intricate  complexities,  of  human  relationships. 
Just  as  modern  science  has' overthrown  the  ancient 
cosmogonies,  so  the  jjassing  of  nations  into  the  broad 
field  of  world  thought  and  life  is*  fast  making  anach- 
ronisms of  purely  tribal  and -ethnic  faiths.  A  reli- 
gion that  comprehends  all,  or  no  religion,  must  be 
the  answer  to  the  mind  trained  in  the  schools  of  to- 
day. Some  power  that  is  sufficient  to  draw  all  men 
into  the  fellowship  of  one  faith  is  the  present  reli- 
gious demand  of  the  world,  a  faith  that  rises  above 
the  limits  of  nations  to  the  measure  of  man  univer- 
sal and  makes  him  one  in  the  universe  of  his  Father. 
Any  religion  that  fails  to  meet  this  demand  squarely 
and  triumphantly  cannot  hope  to  claim  the  moral 
and  religious  allegiance  of  mankind,  but  will  be 
judged  by  its  own  moral  failures,  as  to-day  we  judge 
Hinduism,  Confucianism,  and  Mohammedanism. 

2.  Christianity  on  Trial  in  the  Court  of  the  World 

Can  any  one  fail  to  see  the  significance  of  this 
hour  for  the  Christian  religion  ?  The  very  tests  and 
needs  which  are  causing  other  religions  to  pass  can 
but  serve  to  set  in  the  center  of  the  world's  atten- 
tion Him  who  awaits  this  hour  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  His  glory.  Christianity,  thus  placed  in  the 
foreground  and  alone  of  the  religions  of  mankind 
giving  any  promise  of  becoming  the  universal  reli- 
gion, is  on  trial  in  the  court  of  the  world.    It  is  not 

194 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY 

enough  that  it  shall  show  its  superiority  to  other  re- 
ligions; it  must  demonstrate  its  adequacy  to  meet 
the  world's  needs — to  satisfy  the  reason  and  heart  of 
mankind  and  to  supply  the  moral  energy  necessary 
to  spiritualize  all  the  elements  of  the  intricate  and 
complex  life  of  this  new  era. 

Here  is  the  fiery  ordeal  through  which  the  Chris- 
tian religion  is  passing  in  the  present  momentous 
hour  of  human  history.  The  question  cannot  be  es- 
caped, for  the  whole  world  is  asking  it:  Is  Chris- 
tianity a  religion  for  the  individual  only?  or  are 
there  latent  in  it  also  the  potent  forces  of  social  re- 
demption? Have  we  Christians  a  message  for  this 
age,  so  keenly  awake  to  its  social  life  and  needs? 
Have  we  a  salvation  to  offer  a  world  becoming  more 
and  more  conscious  of  its  social  guilt?  Does  our 
faith  rise  to  belief  in  the  Christ  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  ?  and  are  we  prepared  with  all  confidence  to  of- 
fer him  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ? 

3.  The  Adequacy  of  the  Christian  Religion 

There  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  denying  the  good 
that  is  found  in  the  non-Christian  religions,  and  cer- 
tainly it  would  be  contrary  to  Christian  philosophy 
itself  to  assume  that  God  has  not  spoken  in  many 
ways  to  his  earthly  children  who  have  worshiped 
him  under  the  forms  of  other  faiths  than  our  own. 
But  when  every  possible  value  has  been  conceded 
to  them,  it  still  stands  out  with  increasing  clearness 
that  by  the  test  of  history  and  doctrine  no  one  of  the 
non-Christian  religions  has  the  elements  requisite  fo 
meet  the  needs  of  this  new  world  life  of  humanity. 
Plainly  they  have  all  reached,  long  ago,  the  state  of 

195 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

arrested  development  and  are  powerless  to  contrib- 
ute further  to  human  uplift  and  progress. 

Confucianism  stands  with  its  face  to  the  past,  anH 
its  total  effect  is  stagnation.  The  religions  of  In- 
dian origin  are  religions  of  surrender  and  of  hope- 
lessness. Mohammedanism  is  the  religion  of  fatal- 
ism and  of  social  weakness.  It  is  evident  that  the 
religion  of  the  future  must  be  one  of  assertion  of 
personality  and  of  human  worth — one  that  makes 
for  progress  and  not  for  stagnation,  one  that  in- 
spires to  victory  and  achievement  rather  than  leads 
to  withdrawal  and  surrender,  one  that  proclaims  the 
moral  freedom  of  the  spirit  and  the  gospel  of  indi- 
vidual and  social  redemption. 

Never  before  did  the  world's  need  of  a  religion  so 
set  Christianity  in  the  foreground  or  furnish  such 
opportunity  for  lifting  up  Jesus  Christ  before  the 
eyes  of  the  whole  world  as  its  only  hope.  The  great 
realities  represented  by  the  doctrines  of  the  Father- 
hood of  the  one  holy  God,  the  universal  Saviourhood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  friendship  of  the  Spirit  fur- 
nish the  only  solvent  for  human  ills  and  the  only 
source  of  moral  power  suiBficient  to  make  dominant 
the  ideals  of  social  equity  and  human  brotherhood 
that  are  on  the  horizon  of  the  world's  consciousness 
to-day.  ^'To  the  animist,  with  his  belief  in  myriads 
of  hostile  spirits,  to  the  Hindu,  with  his  pantheon  of 
disgusting  deities,  to  the  Buddhist,  with  his  doubt 
whether  there  be  any  personal  God,  and  to  the  Mos- 
lem, to  whom  God  is  an  arbitrary  Oriental  despot, 
the  message  of  a  God  who  is  at  once  powerful,  just, 
righteous,  and  loving  comes  with  an  inspiration 
which  we  little  realize.    And  it  is  a  God  like  this 

196 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY 

who  is  needed  to  solve  their  problems.  They  need  to 
realize  the  universal  brotherhood  of  the  race.  They 
must  understand  that  a  standard  of  absolute  holi- 
ness is  to  be  placed  before  them,  and  that  over  these 
perplexing  problems  of  life  there  stands  a  Being  of 
infinite  love,  who  wishes  his  children  to  become  like 
him."i 

4.  The  Christian  Church  Must  Dare  Assert  and  Stand 

for  the  Right  and  Power  of  Jesus  Christ  to 

Reign  in  the  Earth 

(1)  Over  all  men. 

The  last  century  has  witnessed  the  enthusiasm  and 
abandon  with  which  representatives  of  the  Christian 
faith,  on  an  unprecedented  scale,  have  gone  forth 
into  every  part  of  the  habitable  earth  bearing  the 
message  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  They  have 
gone  with  absolute  confidence  in  his  power  to  save 
men  of  every  race  and  with  the  certainty  that  Chris- 
tianity would  demonstrate  its  superiority  over  all 
other  religious  faiths.  The  result  has  been  that  they 
have  not  been  disappointed  and  that  to-day  the  vic- 
tories of  the  cross  in  mission  fields  constitute  one  of 
the  most  unanswerable  apologetics  of  the  truth  and 
power  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  spirit  of  these 
missionaries  and  the  results  of  their  work  have  re- 
acted upon  the  entire  Church  until  the  Church  sees 
its  universal  mission  with  a  new  clearness  and  is 
planning  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  with  a 
definiteness    and    comprehensiveness    never    before 


^"Social   Progress   In   Mission   Lands,"   Capen,  pp.   268, 
269. 

197 


PEOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

equaled.  Plaiuly  the  Church  is  gainiug  a  larger 
faith  in  its  Christ  aud  in  his  power  to  save  all  the 
peoples  of  the  earth.  The  Church  is  fast  coming  to 
understand  that  men  cannot  accept  Jesus  as  person- 
al Saviour  and  Lord  and  not  believe  in  him  as  the 
Saviour  of  all  men  and  obey  him  in  making  his  gos- 
pel available  to  all. 

(2)  Over  all  realms. 

While  God  has  thus  been  revealing  to  his  Church 
this  wider  extension  of  its  mission,  and  while  the 
faith  of  the  Church  in  Jesus  Christ  has  been  enlarg- 
ing as  it  has  advanced  with  him  in  his  world  pro- 
gram, there  has  at  the  same  time  been  growing  upon 
the  Christian  people  a  fuller  understanding  of  the 
intensive  mission  of  Christianity.  They  are  begin- 
ning to  see  not  only  that  Jesus  must  be  elevated  to 
be  the  Saviour  of  all  peojile  if  he  is  to  claim  our 
faith  as  the  Saviour  of  some,  but  that  he  must  have 
power  to  subdue  all  realms  and  to  meet  all  needs  of 
humanity  if  he  is  henceforth  to  be  held  as  the  world's 
Saviour.  It  is  a  new  apprehension  of  the  complete 
salvation,  individual  and  social,  of  the  life  of  the 
world.  To  try  to  confine  the  mission  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  of  the  Christian  Church  to  matters  of 
individual  salvation  and  of  the  future  life  is  to  at- 
tempt that  which  would  rob  the  world-wide  social 
movement  of  its  greatest  inspiration  and  power  and 
would  at  the  same  time  place  a  fatal  limitation  upon 
Christianity  in  its  mission  to  the  world.  Speaking 
of  this  social  mission  of  Christianity,  Dr.  Capen 
says : 

The  two  greatest  obstacles  to  Christianity  in  the 
East  to-day  are  the  unworthy  lives  of  many  nominal 

198 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY 

Christiaus  resideut  in  the  East  and  the  failure  of 
Christianity  to  solve  the  social  problems  at  home. 
The  leaders  of  Japan,  of  China,  and  of  India  know 
about  our  red-light  districts,  about  our  lynchings, 
about  our  strikes,  about  our  bomb  outrages,  about 
the  industrial  injustice  that  is  found  all  through 
our  country,  about  our  tenement  houses,  and  about 
our  poverty  and  crime.  The  outrages  upon  Japanese 
residents  in  our  Pacific  Coast  States  a  short  time 
ago  almost  paralyzed  the  arms  of  the  missionaries, 
who  were  working  among  people  who  resented  these 
unjust  acts.  It  is  true  that  the  Churches  must 
Christianize  the  world  in  order  to  save  America,  for 
without  the  world  vision  they  will  neglect  the  task 
at  their  doors.  It  is  equally  true  that  they  must 
Christianize  the  life  of  America,  or  they  cannot  save 
the  world.2 

The  Church  awaits  the  leadership  of  men  whose 
faith  does  not  falter  before  the  demands  of  this  age, 
who  with  holy  abandon  dare  accept  the  entire  pro- 
gram of  Jesus,  individual  and  social,  and  put  him 
and  the  principles  of  his  kingdom  to  the  test  in  the 
entire  individual  and  corporate  life  of  mankind. 
"Here  is  a  race  dreaming  of  a  new  earth,  facing  the 
constructive  efforts  required  to  make  it,  yet  waiting 
to  be  kindled  with  a  great  dynamic  emotion  that 
shall  drive  the  collective  will  to  the  mighty  task."^ 

5.  The  Confidence  of  Jesus  and  His  Followers  in  All 
Ages  in  His  TJltimate  Victory 

"In  the  world  ye  have  tribulation :  but  be  of  good 
cheer;  I  have  overcome  the  world.''    Standing  alone, 

^Capen,  "Social  Progress  in  Mission  Lands,"  p.  279. 
^Ward,  "Social  Evangelism,"  p.  44. 
199 


PEOGEAM  OF  THE  CHEISTIAN  RELIGION 

with  the  world  against  him,  Jesus  speaks  with  calm 
confidence  to  his  followers,  conscious,  as  he  is,  of  the 
eternity  of  the  truth  and  of  the  immutable  will  for 
the  victory  of  righteousness,  which  he  shares  with 
his  Father.  The  assurance  of  ultimate  victory  is  in 
himself  as  the  exponent  of  divine  righteousness.  In 
his  ascendancy  over  evil  is  made  certain  the  final 
triumph  of  God's  will  in  the  earth. 

This  consciousness  of  unseen  power  and  this  un- 
shaken faith  in  the  ultimate  victory  of  his  kingdom 
were  transmitted  to  his  followers.  The  conviction  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  "For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put 
all  enemies  under  his  feet,"  and  the  vision  of  John 
on  Patmos,  "I  saw  the  holy  city.  New  Jerusalem, 
coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God,''  have  had 
their  parallel  and  continuation  in  the  ideal  and  as- 
surance of  the  outcome  that  have  inspired  the  Chris- 
tian leaders  in  all  the  centuries.  And  to-day  this 
same  ideal  and  vision  inspires  a  mightier  host  than 
ever  before  followed  the  leadership  of  Jesus  Christ. 

6.  The  Victories  Already  Won 

The  truth  that  was  to  conquer  found  its  contact 
with  the  earth  and  became  rooted  in  humanity 
through  the  person  of  Christ.  A  seed,  a  germ  of  life, 
is  lodged  in  the  hearts  of  a  few  disciples;  and  be- 
hold a  release  of  the  energies  of  the  Unseen,  by 
which  a  little  company  of  men,  armed  with  the  fiam- 
ing  evangel  of  truth,  begin  to  conquer  the  world! 
It  is  not  strange  that  the  battle  has  swept  back  and 
forth  across  the  plains  of  the  earth  through  the  pass- 
ing centuries.  It  is  not  strange  that  at  times  the 
forces  of  the  world  have  seemed  too  strongly  organ- 

200 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY 

ized  and  intrenched  to  be  overthrown.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  darkness  has  sometimes  settled 
down  on  the  field  of  battle  with  these  forces  appar- 
ently victorious.  And  yet  the  words  that  are  arched 
across  the  broad  highway  of  history  century  after 
century,  continent  after  continent,  and  realm  after 
realm,  wherever  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  Jesus 
have  extended  their  sway,  are  these:  '^I  have  over- 
come." 

We  have  seen  the  Christian  religion  breaking  in 
upon  the  Roman  Empire  and  spreading,  even  though 
imperfectly  and  superficially,  over  Europe.  We  have 
seen  the  far-flung  battle  line  reach  out  to  the  New 
World  and  then  swing  westward  and  eastward  to 
the  ancient  empires  of  the  Orient,  to  the  Hermit 
Kingdom  and  to  the  remote  inland  regions,  and  even 
to  far-off  Tibet,  to  the  heart  of  Africa  and  to  the 
lonely  islands  of  the  sea.  We  have  seen  the  kingdom 
in  its  small  and  seemingly  feeble  beginnings.  But 
once  planted,  we  have  beheld  it  grow  and  split  the 
granite  rock  of  national  customs  and  ideals  of  long- 
established  law  and  social  institutions.  We  have 
seen  the  spirit  of  the  people,  not  only  within  the 
Church,  but  oftentimes  without,  begin  to  ferment 
with  a  new  consciousness,  and  a  new  and  mysterious 
power  has  stirred  whole  communities  and  reached 
to  the  national  conscience  and  will  itself — a  power 
of  which  many  responding  to  it  knew  not  the  source ; 
a  power  making  for  justice,  for  the  overthrow  of  op- 
pression, for  the  release  of  the  enslaved,  for  the  free- 
dom of  the  body,  the  minds,  and  the  spirits  of  men. 
Through  the  years  of  history  we  have  seen,  and  we 
are  seeing  to-day,  despots  and  despotisms,  the  in- 

201 


PEOGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

trenchment  of  selfish  power,  swept  away  by  the 
swelling  tide  of  a  race's  new  consciousness  of  its  des- 
tiny and  of  its  rightful  life. 

To-day  we  see  such  monstrous  curses  as  human 
slavery,  suttee,  the  opium  and  liquor  traffic  stagger 
and  die  before  the  aroused  conscience  of  a  race  that 
begins  to  view  man  as  man  through  the  eyes  of  the 
man  Christ  Jesus.  We  see  the  Christian  ideal  of  the 
home  become  honored  and  sacred  and  the  home  as  an 
institution  recognized  and  defended.  We  behold  the 
rising  wrath  of  those  who  love  purity  and  home  and 
country  turning  the  searchlight  of  investigation  upon 
all  the  conditions  that  threaten  the  family  and  its 
sanctity.  We  see  war  made  on  the  public  iniquities 
of  vice  and  intemperance.  We  see  the  consciences  of 
cities  and  commonwealths  stirred  with  a  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility for  these  sins.  Finally,  we  witness  the 
demand  for  the  spirit  of  cooperation  and  of  mutual 
helpfulness  in  industry,  and  we  hear  the  insistent 
question  of  Jesus  put  to  the  captains  of  industry  and 
to  leaders  of  Church  and  State :  "Is  not  a  man  more 
than  property?  and  shall  not  these  millions,  bound 
these  years  in  industrial  servitude,  be  set  at  lib- 
erty?""^ 

7.  The  Triumph  of  God's  Plan  in  Universal  Brotherhood 

In  spite  of  immeasurable  evil  and  its  power  yet 
remaining  in  the  world,  the  outlook  cannot  fail  to  be 
inspiring  to  the  careful  student  of  the  progress  of 
the  kingdom.  Even  now  the  barriers  may  be  seen  to 
be  breaking  away,  while  Jesus  goes  on  before  and  the 
truth  of  his  gospel  unfolds  and  expands  with  the 
ever-widening  life  and  needs  of  the  world.    As  there 

202 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  VICTORY 

is  uo  land  on  the  planet  over  whose  borders  the  mes- 
sengers of  the  Christ  are  not  finding  their  way,  so 
there  is  no  realm  of  human  life  and  interest,  no  in- 
stitution or  segment  of  society  whose  foundations 
have  not  already  felt  the  shock  of  the  new  power 
and  life  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Their  very  right  to 
exist  on  any  other  foundations  than  those  that  are 
laid  in  righteousness,  in  brotherly  love  and  service, 
in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  is  being  questioned. 
Henceforth  the  unchristian  elements  of  this  world 
must  be  on  the  defensive,  while  the  growing  under- 
standing of  the  mind  of  Christ  shall  organize  the 
conscience  and  will  of  men  to  establish  all  king- 
doms and  institutions  in  conformity  with  the  spirit 
of  a  new  humanity,  living  and  laboring  together  for 
the  fuller  and  richer  life  of  the  world  and  for  the 
complete  realization  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

As  followers  of  Jesus  Christ  and  fellow  members 
of  his  kingdom,  standing  at  the  beginning  of  a  new 
age,  it  is  ours  to  exalt  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  It 
is  ours  to  follow  him  with  that  loyalty  and  enthusi- 
asm that  is  born  of  unwavering  confidence.  We 
must  accept  the  challenge  that  he  has  issued  to  his 
Church,  because  we  believe  he  is  able  to  satisfy  the 
deepest  need  of  all  who  come  unto  God  through  him 
and  because  we  believe  that  he  will  not  be  defeated 
in  his  purpose  to  establish  a  living  and  universal 
brotherhood  among  men. 

Men  of  the  kingdom,  let  us  rise  up  and  follow 
Him  who  bears  His  cross  that  He  may  liberate  the 
world.  Let  us  solemnly  dedicate  ourselves  to  the 
way  of  that  high  sacrifice  and  the  realization  of  that 
vision. 

203 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Thought  Questions 

1.  In  what  measure  does  one  fall  of  understanding  the 
Christian  religion  who  is  concerned  only  about  getting 
people  saved  from  sin  and  safe  to  heaven? 

2.  Wherein  do  social  movements  fall  of  being  Christian 
that  begin  and  end  with  social  reforms? 

3.  In  the  light  of  the  victories  already  won  by  the  Christ 
of  our  faith,  and  in  view  of  his  continued  leadership, 
what  is  the  extent  of  your  hope  and  faith  for  the  future 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  this  world? 

4.  Are  you  prepared  to  dedicate  yourself  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  program  of  the  Christian  religion? 

204 


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